The Three Kings of Cologne (Roger the Chapman)

the long version

Roger the Chapman series #16 Alderman John Foster wishes to give his home city of Bristol a gift of almshouses, together with a chapel dedicated to the Three Kings of Cologne. To this end he purchases a piece of land from the Magdalen Nunnery, but when this is cleared and dug over, the murdered body of a young woman is unearthed. This is later identified as the remains of Isabella Linkinhorne, who disappeared twenty years earlier. It was known at the time that she had three secret lovers, who now become the main suspects. John Foster employs Roger the Chapman to discover the identity of these men, and to find out which one of them killed Isabella. Faced with the almost impossible task of tracking down three people of whom he knows next to nothing, Roger nicknames them Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior after the Magi--the Three Kings of Cologne--and begins his search...