AnaRose Preston is a respected museum curator and antiquities expert. When she travels to France to authenticate a ring believed to have belonged to Balian of Ibelin, the knight who surrendered Jerusalem to Saladin, she embarks on what quickly becomes a quest to locate a legendary relic, the Holy Nail, possibly hidden in a dagger brought to France by a Knight Templar. But others, with dubious motives and less than savoury methods, are also seeking the relic.

With plenty of twists and turns, the tension builds inexorably through AnaRose and the Templar’s Quest, heightened by the use of multiple viewpoints including those of AnaRose’s adversaries, meaning that while the reader knows of dangers and pitfalls that Ana Rose does not, she or he does not know whether AnaRose will succumb to them.

The characters are well-drawn, particularly AnaRose and her assistant Jo. In AnaRose’s case her hidden depths, her unusual background and surprising abilities are revealed naturally as the story progresses. By the end of the story the reader is aware, though, that there is more to know of AnaRose. Fortunately, this novella is the first of a series with the second book, AnaRose and Pharaoh’s Gold due out in February 2024.

The novella is written in unobtrusive prose with the locations, particularly those of importance to the Templars, beautifully described. The story is underpinned by impressive knowledge and understanding of the Knights Templar and their history.

AnaRose and the Templar’s Quest by Mary Ann Bernal is a ripping read!

Included at the end of the book, for those who wish to read further about the Crusades, is Chapter One of Mary Ann Bernal’s Crusader’s Path set against the backdrop of the First Crusade – a novel of redemption, damnation and love forged in the fires of a Holy War.