Murder in the Cloisters

About the Book

The year is 1894. Yorbridge Cathedral is an unhappy place. Jack Sturmey, lay clerk, is hated by everyone, for one reason and one alone: he has a little black book with entries on all of them, man and boy, ordained and lay. They call him ‘Squirmey’; everyone squirms at the very sight of him. One day, Squirmey’s lifeless body is found in the cloisters, by the entrance to ‘the Cave’, where the choir practices. Who killed him? Verney Barker, gruff Master of the Choristers; Bacchus Dyson, College Principal; Sims Kilbey, Dean; Roberts Goulburn, Precentor; Prince Charles Victor, royal student; perhaps even the brilliant but wayward Head Chorister, Ivor Handl? Or someone else who had reason to fear Squirmey and his ledger? The case is assigned to Detective Inspector John Lomas, a supernumerary singer at Yorbridge. Lomas and Detective Sargeant Harry Makepeace, temporarily transferred from Hartleydale CID to assist. They uncover a web of lies, fraud, sexual intrigue and much more before they find the murderer, while preventing a shocking scandal from becoming public. The Cloister Killings is a follow-up to David Baker’s The Organ Loft Murders.

About the Author

Professor David Baker David Baker spent his professional life in higher education, including as Principal of Plymouth Marjon University. He trained as a musician, winning an organ scholarship to Cambridge University, graduating with first-class honours. He then retrained in librarianship. He has five degrees, four fellowships and several honorary awards. He runs his own consultancy company and still performs as a professional organist and keyboard player. He holds an Emeritus Chair in Strategic Information Management and has written widely in the field, with 21 monographs and over 100 articles and book chapters to his credit, and has edited peer-reviewed journals, two major monograph series, and an international encyclopedia. He has published widely in music. His book The Organ: a guide to its construction, history, usage, and music is a standard text. David writes fiction for fun, with an interest in detective stories and late Roman Britain. Sometimes he puts the two together. He also tries his hand at poetry from time to time. Murder in the Cloisters is his fifth novel, and the fourth of his detective stories, all set in the fictional city of Yorbridge, and the valley of Hartleydale, whether in the 19th century, or the 21st.