A satisfying medieval mystery!
Murder at Whitby Abbey (Abbess of Meaux Mystery #10)
by Cassandra Clark
A troubled time in history. 1398, King Richard has no army of his own and amongst others he's up against Gloucester, Arundel and Lancaster, when they stop bickering, as one man so eloquently puts it.
Against this background the nun Hildegard of Meaux, of the Cistercian priory of Swyne, and her three associates from the Cistercian fold, have been sent north during the twelve days after Christmas to Whitby Abbey, part of the Benedictine order, to obtain a 700 year old relic, a lock of hair of Abbess Hild. Hildegard silently questions her Abbess' injunction, "to bring back as a prize a possibly fraudulent artefact at any price." Her escorts are a young priest, Luke, and two militant monks, Gregory and Egbert.
This mission is part of her continued penance for a grievous sin she has committed against the Abbot Hubert de Courcy and the Rule.
Not long after they arrive at Whitby a monk is found dead in the apple storage cellar. Along with this other disturbing factors are swirling around the Abbey and its inhabitants. Unfair rents and taxes, and the treatment of some of the townsfolk has the relations between the town and Abbey tinder dry. It will only takes a spark for the whole place to explode.
Hildegard and her companions are asked by the Abbot to investigate the death. This is just the beginning of a confusing and at times, harrowing sojourn.
I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere that Clark engendered, with touches of high drama, power struggles, and greed, offset by moments of compassion. Hildegard and her companions are a closely knit group that accept each other's strengths and weaknesses. This plays well into what they undertake.
There's a lot happening, including the not so implicit criticism about relics. That is a whole different thread of the story.
I haven't read any of Hildegard's previous tales. A fact I must remedy as I'm loving her wry humor, reflective thoughtfulness, fully human understandings and adventurous ways.
A Severn House ARC via NetGalley
*****
by Cassandra Clark
Against this background the nun Hildegard of Meaux, of the Cistercian priory of Swyne, and her three associates from the Cistercian fold, have been sent north during the twelve days after Christmas to Whitby Abbey, part of the Benedictine order, to obtain a 700 year old relic, a lock of hair of Abbess Hild. Hildegard silently questions her Abbess' injunction, "to bring back as a prize a possibly fraudulent artefact at any price." Her escorts are a young priest, Luke, and two militant monks, Gregory and Egbert.
This mission is part of her continued penance for a grievous sin she has committed against the Abbot Hubert de Courcy and the Rule.
Not long after they arrive at Whitby a monk is found dead in the apple storage cellar. Along with this other disturbing factors are swirling around the Abbey and its inhabitants. Unfair rents and taxes, and the treatment of some of the townsfolk has the relations between the town and Abbey tinder dry. It will only takes a spark for the whole place to explode.
Hildegard and her companions are asked by the Abbot to investigate the death. This is just the beginning of a confusing and at times, harrowing sojourn.
I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere that Clark engendered, with touches of high drama, power struggles, and greed, offset by moments of compassion. Hildegard and her companions are a closely knit group that accept each other's strengths and weaknesses. This plays well into what they undertake.
There's a lot happening, including the not so implicit criticism about relics. That is a whole different thread of the story.
I haven't read any of Hildegard's previous tales. A fact I must remedy as I'm loving her wry humor, reflective thoughtfulness, fully human understandings and adventurous ways.
A Severn House ARC via NetGalley
*****
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