BONES OF THE PRIORY by Mark Posey
Releases June 18th. Available for pre-order now.
A Nun with a Gun. Book 8.0
Mystery Thriller Novelette
A letter from the grave. A sister long thought dead. A secret five hundred years in the making.
Read an excerpt | Read the reviews |
A letter from the grave. An immortal sister long thought dead. A secret five hundred years in the making.
After five centuries of wandering, Sister Jacobine—known to some as Alice Fisher—returns to the crumbling ruins of the Amesbury Priory, where her extraordinary healing gift first changed her life forever.
A letter, written in a trembling hand and signed with a name no living soul should remember, summons the immortal nun home. But what awaits among the ancient graves and ruined walls is more than memory and regret. Buried beneath the Priory’s stones lies a centuries-old mystery, and an ancient secret that was never meant to survive the ages.
When her homecoming turns deadly, Alice discovers that one of her sisters has endured the centuries alongside her. Twisted by envy, consumed by obsession, and clinging to life far beyond its natural span, the woman will stop at nothing to claim the gift she believes should have been hers.
Now Sister Jacobine must confront the darkest chapter of her past in a supernatural thriller that stretches from the ruins of Amesbury Priory to the shadowed stones of Stonehenge itself.
Immortality is a gift that never stops taking… and some debts refuse to die.
A Nun With A Gun is a series of short stories and novelettes about Sister Jacobine, the Pope’s hitwoman. They are best read in order.
1.0 Feet of Clay
2.0 A Port in the Storm
3.0 Excommunication
4.0 Requiem Mass
5.0 Den of Lions
6.0 The Narrow Gate
6.5 The Book of Jacobine (Omnibus)
7.0 Through a Glass Darkly (coming soon!)
8.0 Bones of the Priory
9.0 The Things That Shall Come Upon Them (coming soon!)
Thriller Short Story
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Reviews
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I really enjoy all the Sister Jacobine novelettes and this is another fantastic adventure for her!
Sister Jacobine visits her childhood residence and goes head to head with a ghost from her past. Intrigue becomes gripping tension as Alice battles threats lingering in the half-light and an unexpected foe.
Revisiting the Priory home of her childhood revealed more of her history which is always something to treasure with an intriguing character like Alice.
Highly recommended and definitely something to be read in the series order so Alice's full complexities can be appreciated.
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Electronic book, compatible with all reading devices. Book can be read on all devices and apps. [More info]
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Excerpt
It had felt awkward at first, the idea of going to Amesbury. The silly concept that you cannot go home again vexed her with its accuracy. Yet the concept of “Amesbury” felt more like home to her than her quarters in The Vatican. Certainly, the Rafferty’s house in Philadelphia felt homey but still…not as much as Amesbury.
It had been more than one hundred years since Alice Fisher had been to the Priory where she’d grown up. More than five hundred years since she’d taken her perpetual vows there. And a few years still before that since she had first killed a man.
The sloped roof of the bedroom in Fairlawn House Bed & Breakfast and the musty, earthy smell that had permeated the room when she’d tugged open the curtains in the dormer window had, for the briefest of moments, caused a wave of nostalgia to wash over Alice, taking her back to her bedroom in the Priory.
Missing, of course, were the nine other girls she had shared that bed and that room with, and the chill in the morning air before Mother stoked the hearth fire. Still, the memory was a pleasant start to her first day home in quite a while, even if she had no idea what the rest of the day would bring.
She could not think for the life of her who had sent the letter that had summoned her to Mother’s grave. The handwritten note had provided no clue to their identity. It had been scratched out by such a stiff, shaky hand as to be almost indecipherable.
Who on earth knew to refer to me as “Doodle?”
As anyone who had known her by that repugnant nickname was long dead, Alice hoped to find who had sent it as soon as she reached the Priory ruins, this morning. Although, there was no way to avoid the usual morning niceties, as this was a bed & breakfast establishment. Yet she was determined to make the niceties as short as possible.
She could smell frying bacon and sausages, and the coffee that no doubt would be set out by her hosts for her and any other guests before starting their day. It was quite possible that keeping the niceties short was not on the morning’s agenda.
The floorboards under Alice’s feet creaked as she made her way to the dressing chair where she’d laid the day’s clothing. As with every morning, donning the traditional black-and-while veil came last. She refrained from wearing her usual Armani suit and instead donned jeans and a plain white button-down shirt.
She had just finished buttoning her shirt when a soft knock sounded. “Sister? Are you up?” It was Mrs. Sharples, the proprietor of the bed & breakfast. “Breakfast is on the table. A young thing like yourself must be hungry after such a long trip.”
“I shall be down directly, Mrs. Sharples.”
When Alice arrived in the dining room, she found that Mrs. Sharples had made what she called a traditional English breakfast.
While the blood pudding was particularly tasty, Alice hadn’t the heart to tell Mrs. Sharples that this was far from a traditional breakfast. Alice guessed that most tourists would not be happy with the stale bread and turnips with which she had always broken her fast, as a child. Not to mention the cup of watered wine.
When Alice stepped out of Fairlawn House, shrugging into a denim jacket, Amesbury looked nothing like how she remembered it, of course. Yet the narrow streets and the brick facades of the High Street comforted her. She wasn’t sure she belonged here, anymore, but when the bells of St. Mary’s rang out, Alice couldn’t help but smile. She closed her eyes and stood still, breathing in the air of the town, and letting the ringing of the bells fill her heart.
She let out a long, slow breath and opened her eyes.
Home.
As Alice stood on the footpath of the High Street, she felt a foreboding settle into the pit of her stomach. As she was about to start toward the church, she heard the front door of the bed & breakfast open and shut. She glanced over her shoulder and met the friendly gaze of Mrs. Sharples.
“Where you off to this morning, Sister?”
Alice inclined her chin up the High Street “St. Mary’s.”
Mrs. Sharples grimaced. “The ruins? Why on earth would you want to go to that old place?”
Alice grinned. “A… hobby of mine. Visiting ancient graveyards. It reminds me of where I came from…and where most of us go, eventually.”
Mrs. Sharples frowned. “Having been born here, I should think you’d have had your fill of St. Mary’s by now.”
“A fill of St. Mary’s is exactly what I need at the moment, thank you.”
“Right.” Mrs. Sharples nodded. “I’m off to Aldi’s for the fixings for soup for lunch. D’you mind if I walk with you?”
“Not at all.”
When Alice just stood there, Mrs. Sharples frowned again. “How long did you say it’s been since you were last here?”
Alice gazed down the High Street again as Mrs. Sharples hooked her by the elbow and led her along the footpath. “I didn’t, actually.”
“It can’t have been too long.”
Alice scoffed. “Part of me wonders if it’s been long enough.”