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It is February 1194. A desperately ill man is making for Hawkenlye Abbey in the hope of a miracle cure. In his delirium he sees the Virgin Mary and, sinking to his knees, he begins to pray. She is the last person he will ever see.
The winter cold intensifies and the Vale lake freezes over. It is only when the thaw sets in that a corpse is discovered in the icy waters, its skull crushed by a lethal blow. With no clues on the body but an apothecary’s remedy, Abbess Helewise asks her trusted friend Sir Josse d’Acquin to find out the man’s identity. As Josse sets out on his mission, a party of sick people arrive seeking help, and their sickness looks terrifyingly like plague . . .
The winter cold intensifies and the Vale lake freezes over. It is only when the thaw sets in that a corpse is discovered in the icy waters, its skull crushed by a lethal blow. With no clues on the body but an apothecary’s remedy, Abbess Helewise asks her trusted friend Sir Josse d’Acquin to find out the man’s identity. As Josse sets out on his mission, a party of sick people arrive seeking help, and their sickness looks terrifyingly like plague . . .
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Reviews
'A rich and compelling mystery'
Cunningly shifting sympathies among virtually all the players, Clare spotlights first Helewise, then Josse, in a detecting competition that lifts the partners above their predictable gender roles ... immersing them in a suddenly engrossing tale.
They are actually rather good
Praise for the Hawkenlye Series
This is no murder-by-numbers writer. What seems a fascinating subplot, about a forest poeople who adhere to the old pagan ways, gradually becomes central to the investigation. Clare draws utterly believable characters who have warmth and humanity . . . Don't let the fact that this is the sixth in a series put you off. But I bet, like me, you'll be ordering books one to five when you've finished.
A worthy heir to Ellis Peters, though grittier, materialises
'Proof that a writer of medieval crime fiction can deliver something fresh'