A Plague of Death
by Grant N. Pierce

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The whispers of the spectators on the street were rapidly evolving into cries of concern. The sky was alight with fire … Great globs of black ash rained down and clamped onto each tunic, each dress, covering them with black soot. Swiftly, the floating ash began to transform into more threatening chips of burning wood hurtling through the air as the core of the fire expanded. The miniature fire balls struck without reason, igniting canopies overhead. Only then did the whispers turn to screams. It’s 1665, the bubonic plague has descended upon London and will go on to kill one in four Londoners in the most devastating pandemic ever recorded. Amidst the daily horrors, street urchins Caroline and Will make a ghastly discovery that’s beyond the pale; a young woman has been murdered and gruesomely mutilated and it soon becomes obvious she won’t be the last. The two youngsters are befriended by a kindly constable to uncover the killer but the murders continue. As time goes on and the plague deaths mount, the murders finally seem to cease and it’s reasonable to assume the killer has also succumbed to the Black Death. But as the constable and his two young friends are about to learn, the murderer hasn’t stopped. And what none of the denizens of London can possible anticipate…is that yet another unimaginable disaster is awaiting them all. Set amidst two of the most dramatic and terrifying cataclysms in human history, A Plague of Death vividly recreates the desperate circumstances of seventeenth-century London, while following a diverse and engaging cast of characters through an unfolding mystery that leaves the reader guessing to the very end.

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Grant N. Pierce is a research scientist who co-discovered a compound that can kill resistant bacteria, including the one responsible for bubonic plague. Grant is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. He has published over 250 peer-reviewed scientific papers and edited or written eight books on topics of science, medicine, and health. During his career in science, he has received a number of distinctions including induction as a Member of the Order of Manitoba, a Member of the Order of Canada, and as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Grant lives in Winnipeg with his wife Gail. A Plague of Death is his first work of creative fiction.

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Grant N. Pierce