Robert de Payens, grandson of Eleanor, one of the co-founders of the Temple, and Englishman Edward Sendal find themselves caught up in a murder mystery when Raymond, Count of Tripoli, is brutally assassinated.

A narrative history of the Knights Templar draws on extensive original sources to separate fact from myth, exploring their actual work and influence, the reasons they fell out of favor, and whether or not they were guilty of heresy.

Why do the powerful medieval Knights Templar, the famed warriors of the Crusades, still intrigue many today? A secret society long shrouded in mystery, the Templars were believed to conduct mystical rituals, to guard the Holy Grail, and to possess the priceless treasures of the Temple of Jerusalem. Did they bring their treasure to North America, as some legends say? This definitive work about the Templars and their presumed hidden knowledge addresses...

A follow-up to the internationally best-selling The Hangman's Daughter traces the 1648 investigation by hangman Jakob Kuisl, his headstrong daughter and the town physician into the poisoning murder of a priest whose demise is precariously linked to the Crusades and the Knights Templar treasure.