The Bishop's Dance

One morning in early March 1362 the body of a beautiful naked woman is found in a street of Oporto not far from her home. She has been stabbed to death. Dom Pedro is determined to bring her murderer to justice and soon finds he must count among his suspects some of the most prominent members of city society.

In early March of 1362 Dom Pedro, King of Portugal, arrives in Oporto to make merry with its inhabitants on the last day of Carnaval. The townspeople are delighted with his arrival and celebrate the last day before Lent with music and dancing in the streets, drinking and feasting, and the lighting of bonfires. The king attends a great feast and dance at the bishop’s palace then goes out to wander among the common folk. It is a joyous occasion for all. That is . . . almost all. Shortly after dawn on Ash Wednesday the body of a beautiful naked woman is discovered. She was stabbed and her remains abandoned in a street. She is quickly identified as Berengaria, the young wife of Randolfo an elderly but quite wealthy inhabitant of the city. Dom Pedro is quite disturbed by this crime which reminds him all too vividly of the great tragedy of his own life and is determined to discover the person responsible. However, it soon becomes clear that Berengaria’s killer is likely to be found among the elite of the city, indeed among the guests at the feast Pedro himself attended. Discovering and punishing the criminal may have unwelcome consequences.

Toni Cor was born in Berkeley, California and grew up in the Rocky Mountain area. Even as a child she was fascinated by medieval literature and culture. She also loved detective stories and in recent years has been particularly interested in historical mysteries. After receiving a degree in French from the University of Wyoming, where her father taught French and Spanish, she went on to study at the University of Oregon where she received a master’s degree in Medieval French Literature with a minor in Comparative Literature. Eventually she received a Ph.D. in Medieval French Literature, again with a minor in Comparative Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has taught French at various levels and has published some papers on French literature in professional journals. While editing her father’s papers after his death, she came across a wealth of material on a subject that had fascinated her father: King Pedro I of Portugal, called by some Pedro the Cruel. Some of the stories told about him struck her as having the potential of being turned into historical mysteries. So she decided to write them. At the present time Ms. Cor lives with her husband in the Washington D.C. area where she spends entirely too much time playing Angry Birds.