The Executioner's Heart

Books

"It's normal for Inspector Bainbridge to be called to the scene of a crime, but this is the third murder in quick succession, each with the victim's chest cracked open and their heart torn out. Bainbridge suspects there's a symbolic reason for the stolen hearts, so he sends for special agent Sir Maurice Newbury and his determined assistant Miss Veronica Hobbes. Unfortunately, neither of them are in much shape to take the case. Veronica is busy trying to find some way to alleviate the mysterious forces hounding her family. Newbury's been retained by a private client: Edward, Prince of Wales, who's concerned that his mother is losing her grip on the nation. Eventually, though, it is determined that someone has hired a mercenary known as the Executioner to kill current and former agents of the Queen. The Executioner--French, beautiful, and covered in tattoos, her flesh inlaid with precious metals--is famed throughout Europe, with legends going back for years. Something is keeping her in a form of living ...