Murder at Beaulieu Abbey
-
- USD 4.99
-
- USD 4.99
Descripción editorial
Death and danger await intrepid nun Hildegard of Meaux when she undertakes a secret mission for the good of her Order, in this eleventh action-packed installment of the medieval mystery series.
February, 1390. The Church seethes with rebellion. Newly elected Pope Boniface faces a challenger: the anti-pope Clement, who sows discord from his power base in France.
The quarrel threatens the very survival of the Cistercian Order. So when suspicions grow that distant Beaulieu Abbey may turn traitor, Hildegard's prioress summons her with a mission she can't refuse: travel to the isolated royal abbey and spy out their true allegiance.
The public reason for Hildegard's trip is more prosaic. A young Cornish heiress, promised in marriage to the son of local aristocrat Sir William, needs escorting to her new home. It's not often Hildegard joins a betrothal party, and she's looking forward to meeting the girl.
But little does Hildegard know, death and danger wait at Beaulieu - and even the protection of her travelling companions, the monks militant Brother Gregory and Brother Egbert, may not be enough to keep her safe from harm . . .
This action-packed, page-turning medieval mystery is a great choice for fans of holy sleuths like Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma and Paul Doherty's Brother Athelstan.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in late-14th-century England, Clark's engrossing 11th Abbess of Meaux mystery (after 2019's Murder at Whitby Abbey) takes Sister Hildegard from the priory of Swyne to Beaulieu Abbey, ostensibly to bring 12-year-old Elowen, an heiress, back to Swyne, where the girl will remain until she marries a son of Sir William de Hutton. But Hildegard's prioress has also tasked her with surreptitiously learning which side the monks of Beaulieu are on in the politically consequential dispute raging over which of two popes should rule the church. When Elowen is kidnapped from Beaulieu and a ransom note is received, Hildegard and the two monks who have been sent to protect the girl join the forces of the abbey and Sir William's men to find her. Meanwhile, Hildegard encounters the sanctuarymen, felons who live on the abbey's grounds, one of whom, Black Harry, may be leading the group in some evil scheme. Hildegard must resist temptation as she feels attracted to the charismatic Harry. The richly detailed narrative builds to a surprising revelation about the nature of the kidnap plot. Fans of medieval mysteries will be pleased.