Knight of the Green Cross
Audiobook
Knight of the Green Cross
From the Crusades to Palace Intrigue. A Historical Detective Story from the Time of Ottokar I of Bohemia.
A historical detective story from the time of Ottokar I of Bohemia.
In the year 1212, Mikuláš returns to his native Bohemia after years in the Holy Land, afflicted by a disease he considers a curse from God himself: leprosy. As an envoy of the knightly Order of Saint Lazarus, his mission is to persuade King Ottokar I to aid the Crusaders. But he also has a personal reason for returning home – he longs to reunite with Barbora, whom he was once forbidden to marry due to her common birth. However, upon arriving in Prague, he discovers that his old love has been murdered and her son, who could be Mikuláš's child, has vanished without a trace. Meanwhile, King Ottokar has his hands full with an alleged conspiracy to assassinate him. Mikuláš joins forces with his old love's husband and the Lazarites of Prague, and together they follow the trail of Barbora's murderers and the conspirators, whose plot reaches the highest levels of Prague Castle. What evil lurks behind the palace intrigue, European politics, and Crusades? The first volume in a planned “Přemyslid series”.
František Kalenda
A Czech anthropologist, columnist, and writer. He has been writing short stories since childhood, and in 2011, he debuted with the historical novel *Despota* (The Despot). His second prose work, *Ordál* (The Ordeal, 2012), was nominated for the Jiří Orten Award for the most outstanding writer under 30. He is the author of a detective trilogy set in the era of Charles IV. For the first volume, *Vraždy ve znamení hvězdy* (Murders in the Sign of the Star, 2016), he received an honourable mention from the Czech Association of Detective Fiction Authors. He also wrote the historical detective story *Zpověď posledního mnicha* (Confession of the Last Monk, 2023). In addition, he has written adventure stories for children and young adults: *Pes, kocour a sirotek* (The Dog, the Cat, and the Orphan, 2016) and *Dcera labyrintu* (Daughter of the Labyrinth, 2022).
