CRUCIBLE OF SECRETS: Alexander Seaton Book 3

The plot is ingenious involving Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism and the adventures of Scottish students on the Continent. It is midsummer Aberdeen 1631. While Alexander Seaton and his fellow masters enjoy the holiday with their students, Robert Sim, librarian of the University, is murdered in a dark alleyway in town. While the authorities investigate the murder, Seaton is asked by the college principal to look into Sim's private life. Sim had taken receipt of a gift of books recently arrived from overseas, mysterious works on alchemy and hermetics, the pursuit of ancient knowledge. It is only when a second, apparently unrelated murder comes to light that Seaton begins to piece together the connections between a young weaver, the consignment of books, and events in a college in the Low Country in order to unmask the perpetrator of the years'-old deception that led to the two deaths. Seaton must hunt for clues as to the killer's motive, as well as locate the missing books. 472pp, paperback with fairly large print.