Book excerpt: Journey to the reign of Edward II, where murder was part of the tapestry of life... The first in Paul Doherty's series featuring Mathilde of Westminster is played out against the glorious, violent and decadent court of Edward II where ghosts throng, and old sins and innocent blood cry to heaven for vengeance. Perfect for fans of Susanna Gregory and Michael Jecks. By 1322, Mathilde of Westminster was considered the finest physician in London. But in her years as lady-in-waiting to Princess Isabella, she was drawn into the murky politics of the English court, where sudden, mysterious death was part of the tapestry of life. Many years later, Mathilde looks back and chronicles her turbulent life. With her sharp, suspicious intellect ready to distinguish between a fatality and an unnatural death, Mathilde is confronted by a host of chilling murders. The source of these horrors is the fierce political rivalry between Philip of France and Edward of England. This manifests itself in a series of gruesome killings, one of which actually took place during Edward II's Coronation, when a knight of the Royal Household, Sir John Baquelle was crushed to death... What readers are saying about The Cup of Ghosts: 'Doherty has created a vivid and credible picture of life at the royal court' 'There are very few authors who can even come close to matching Doherty' 'Cup of Ghosts is a beautifully written novel, bringing fact and fiction together in a believable story of murder, intrigue, desire for power and passion in a time when violence and murder was a way of life'