Murder at Whitby Abbey
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
"Excellent … a standout in the crowded medieval mystery field" - Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Despatched to Whitby Abbey to barter for a Holy Relic, Hildegard of Meaux is plunged into a baffling murder investigation in this gripping medieval mystery.
December, 1389. As penance for her sexual misconduct earlier that year, Hildegard is sent by Abbot de Courcy to the powerful Whitby Abbey on a difficult quest: to obtain a Holy Relic, a lock of St Hild’s hair, kept secretly by the monks for over 600 years.
Accompanied by two monks militant and a young priest from the Abbey of Meaux, Hildegard finds the Whitby guest house teeming with visitors intent on celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas before the austere days of Lent set in. To her dismay, she finds that others, too, are desperate to obtain the Relic and she has no choice but to enter a bidding war if she wants to fulfil her Abbot's request.
When the unmarked body of a young monk is discovered in an apple store, dangerous secrets emerge and with tensions between town and abbey erupting into open violence Hildegard finds that even the holy precinct is full of menace ...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1389, Clark's excellent sixth outing for Sister Hildegarde of Meaux (after 2015's The Dragon of Handel) takes the intelligent and occasionally wayward nun to Whitby, along with three fellow Cistercian monastics, to purchase the Benedictines' precious relic, a lock of hair of Abbess Hild, the founder of Whitby Abbey. Though the relic's value and authenticity continue to raise serious questions throughout Sister Hildegarde's stay, the perplexing murder of a compassionate monk, Brother Aelwyn, prompts a request that the Cistercian visitors investigate this crime. They plunge into solving the mystery, all four of them advancing the inquiry, but only Sister Hildegarde has her life repeatedly threatened on the way to the tense climax. In addition to juicy abbey secrets concerning chastity and venality, the investigation uncovers a simmering struggle between Whitby locals and monks touching on class conflicts and anger toward monastic land grabbing and toll impositions all issues relevant to the late 14th century. This is definitely a standout in the crowded medieval mystery field. Readers will hope to see Sister Hildegarde soon again.
