Murder in the Cloister
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Christine de Pizan is in danger when she is sent to the Priory of Poissy to catch the killer of a young nun in this vividly imagined historical mystery set in fourteenth-century France.
Paris, 1399. Scribe Christine de Pizan is sent to the Priory of Poissy by the palace to copy a manuscript for the prioress. But the prioress already has many copyists, and Christine senses that something is amiss.
Her suspicions are confirmed when the prioress reveals that one of the sisters has been found murdered in the cloister. Fearing for the welfare of the king's young daughter who resides at the abbey, she is eager for Christine to find out who killed the young nun - and why.
As Christine investigates, she uncovers dark mischief and closely guarded secrets, but can she unmask a killer?
This compelling medieval mystery will appeal to fans of KAREN MAITLAND, SUSANNA GREGORY and CANDACE ROBB.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1399, Bayard's enjoyable fourth Christine de Pizan mystery (after 2020's In the Company of Fools) finds the Parisian scribe summoned to the presence of Charles VI, who went mad seven years earlier and appears "emaciated and slov-enly dressed." A young nun has been found stabbed to death at the Dominican priory of Poissy, and Christine must solve the crime, quickly and discreetly. Because the king's daughter is housed there and the king's aunt is the prioress, any scandal would be disastrous for the royal family. But Christine soon learns there's plenty of tension simmering at the priory, and not all the nuns wish to stay. Moreover, rumors of a sorcerer's apprentice practicing dark arts in the nearby forest might have basis in fact. The sparring between the independent Christine and Henri Le Picart, the misogynist courtier sent to accompany her on her quest, is a highlight. A good pace and well-researched descriptive detail make up for a surfeit of characters, many of whom are provoked to stamp their feet. Bayard invests this historical series with original flair.
