The Book of Killowen - Hardcover

Hart, Erin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1451634846 ISBN 13: 9781451634846

Publisher: Scribner, 2013

Synopsis

An ancient volume of philosophical heresy provides a motive for murder in this haunting, lyrical novel of forensics, archeology, and history—the fourth in an acclaimed suspense series.

What sort of book is worth a man’s life? After a year away from working in the field, archaeologist Cormac Maguire and pathologist Nora Gavin are back in the bogs, investigating a ninth-century body found buried in the trunk of a car. They discover that the ancient corpse is not alone—pinned beneath it is the body of Benedict Kavanagh, missing for mere months and familiar to television viewers as a philosopher who enjoyed destroying his opponents in debate. Both men were viciously murdered, but centuries apart—so how did they end up buried together in the bog?

While on the case, Cormac and Nora lodge at Killowen, a nearby artists’ colony, organic farm, and sanctuary for eccentric souls. Digging deeper into the older crime, they become entangled in high-stakes intrigue encompassing Kavanagh’s death while surrounded by suspects in his ghastly murder. It seems that everyone at Killowen has some secret to protect.

Set in modern-day Ireland, The Book of Killowen reveals a new twist on the power of language—and on the eternal mysteries of good and evil.

About this title

About the Author:

Erin Hart is a theater critic and former administrator at the Minnesota State Arts Board. A lifelong interest in Irish traditional music led her to cofound Minnesota’s Irish Music and Dance Association. She and her husband, musician Paddy O’Brien, live in St. Paul, Minnesota, and frequently visit Ireland. Erin Hart was nominated for the Agatha and Anthony Awards for her debut novel, Haunted Ground, and won the Friends of American Writers Award in 2004. Visit her website at ErinHart.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

The Book of Killowen

PROLOGUE

Domfarcai fidbaidæ fál fomchain lóid luin lúad nad cél.

Huas mo lebrán indlínech fomchain trírech innanén . . .

Fommchain cói menn medair mass himbrot lass de dindgnaib doss

debrath nomchoimmdiu cóima cáinscríbaimm foróda ross.

A hedge of trees surrounds me:

a blackbird’s lay sings to me

praise which I will not hide . . .

Above my manuscript—the lined one—

the trilling of the birds sings to me.

In a gray mantle the cuckoo sings

a beautiful chant to me from the tops of bushes:

may the Lord protect me from Doom!

I write well under the greenwood.

—Verse written in the margin by an Irish scribe who copied Priscian’s Institutiones Grammaticae (a Latin grammar) in the mid-ninth century

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1451634846
• ISBN 13: 9781451634846
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352