title: Justice for the Damned: a Medieval Mystery (Medieval Mysteries)
author:  Priscilla Royal 
description: <i>Starred Review.</i> Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal is recuperating from a life-threatening illness at the start of Royal's riveting fourth medieval mystery (after 2006's <i>Sorrow Without End</i>), but she brightens at an assignment from her aunt Beatrice, director of novices at Amesbury Priory, who asks her to investigate a ghost people claim has begun haunting Amesbury. When a local man is found beheaded, Eleanor realizes she's dealing with a human killer, not an otherworldly spirit. Meanwhile, a thief may be trying to steal a valuable illuminated manuscript from the priory. In a fascinating subplot, a handsome young monk, Thomas, hunts down the manuscript thief. Though committed to celibacy, 22-year-old Eleanor develops quite a crush on Thomas, who struggles with homosexual longings. The author subtly treats the erotic charge surrounding Eleanor and Thomas while shedding light on 13th-century understandings of sexuality. Royal draws together the murder, the manuscript and the ghost in an unexpected conclusion. <i>(June)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  Contents
  
  > > Part One: SIMON SAYS
  
  > > Chapter One
  
  > > Chapter Two
  
  > > Chapter Three
  
  > > Chapter Four
  
  > > Chapter Five
  
  > > Chapter Six
  
  > > Chapter Seven
  
  > > Chapter Eight
  
  > > Chapter Nine
  
  > > Part Two: HIDE-AND-SEEK
  
  > > Chapter Ten
  
  > > Chapter Eleven
  
  > > Chapter Twelve
  
  > > Chapter Thirteen
  
  > > Chapter Fourteen
  
  > > Chapter Fifteen
  
  > > Chapter Sixteen
  
  > > Chapter Seventeen
  
  > > Chapter Eighteen
  
  > > Part Three: TRUTH OR DARE
  
  > > Chapter Nineteen
  
  > > Chapter Twenty
  
  > > Chapter Twenty-One
  
  > > Chapter Twenty-Two
  
  > > Chapter Twenty-Three
  
  > > Chapter Twenty-Four
  
  > > Chapter Twenty-Five
  
  > > Chapter Twenty-Six
  
  > > Chapter Twenty-Seven
  
  > > Chapter Twenty-Eight
  
  > > Chapter Twenty-Nine
  
  > > Chapter Thirty
  
  > > Epilogue
  
  > > Acknowledgments
  
  > > Follow Penguin
  
  ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  
  Karen M. McManus earned her BA in English from the College of the Holy Cross
  and her MA in journalism from 