The Hour of the Fox

September 1, 2019

In 1389, nun Hildegard of Meaux is sent to Whitby Abbey in northern England. As penance for her sins, she must barter with the Benedictine monks for a relic, a 700-year-old lock of hair of Abbess Hild of Whitby. Her companions on the winter journey are two monks and a young priest. When they arrive at Whitby, Hildegard discovers they are not the only ones interested in the relic. While waiting to view it and offer a price, the four travelers are caught up in the murder of a young monk. Their investigation uncovers secrets of the abbey, its tensions with the town, and the issues of taxes and land, and then another man is murdered. Before she and her companions return home, Hildegard will uncover the truth behind the killings and the connection to the abbey. VERDICT Although set centuries apart, Clark's tenth medieval mystery (following Murder at Meaux) and Cora Harrison's 1920s-set "Reverend Mother" series share similarly rich details of religious and political life. Readers who favor the political tensions and historical aspects of Ellis Peters's "Brother Cadfael" mysteries will further appreciate this leisurely paced story.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2019
As a punishment for her recently discovered sexual misconduct, Hildegard of Meaux, a pious but somewhat unconventional nun with a robust past, is sent on a mission to obtain a holy relic from Whitby Abbey. Unfortunately, her assignment becomes more complicated when the relic, purported to be a lock of St. Hild's hair, sparks a bidding war among both local gentry and representatives from other abbeys. Before the bidding can begin, the body of a young monk is discovered in a store. As Hildegard and her companions, two "monks militant" (recent veterans of the Crusades), and a naive young priest, undertake the investigation, it becomes evident that both the abbey and the town itself harbor dark and twisted secrets. Hildegard puts herself and her virtue at considerable risk in order to uncover a potentially treasonous plot and unmask a murderer. Authentically mired in fourteenth-century religion, politics, and social unrest, the tenth volume in Clark's consistently superior medieval mystery series will not disappoint fans of the genre.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

June 1, 2020
The body of a young woman appears, her throat slit, along a water channel in 1399 London. Though the corpse is nude, her ring identifies her as a novice from a nearby abbey. Soon, conflicting rumors about the events leading to her death run rampant, and Rodric Chandler, a morally conflicted friar with a secret, is determined to track down her murderer, aided by the town coroner and an ambitious, young, servant girl who finds herself drawn to Chandler despite herself. This medieval mystery, the first in a new series, is set against the real-life backdrop of Lord Henry Bolingbroke scheming for the crown and Geoffrey Chaucer penning The Canterbury Tales. The history is meticulously researched and depicted, with sprinklings of fact on almost every page, so much so that Brother Chandler's sleuthing may appeal to nonfiction readers looking for variety in their reading just as much as the fans of Clark's popular Abbess Hildegard of Meaux series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

April 20, 2020
Friar Rodric Chandler, the hero of this fresh series launch set in 1399 England from Clark (the Hildegard of Meaux mysteries), inspires fear in those who know of him throughout London, because he’s an effective spy for a ruthless political faction. No stranger to violence and lust, he’s conflicted about his spying, his religious calling, and his place among the powerful in the kingdom. When Chandler investigates the murder of a young novice found with her throat slit in the Thames, he suspects a cover-up, one that could reach into some scary places. Meanwhile, Richard II has gone to Ireland, and rumors bedevil London that Henry of Bolingbroke, the king’s cousin, is poised to invade from his place of foreign exile and try to take the English throne. The murder plot loses some of its urgency amid the clash-of-dynasties backdrop, and shifting points of view combined with some short chapters can make for choppy reading. But whenever the focus is on Chandler, the story grips. Readers will want to see more of this highly original protagonist.

April 1, 2020
The evil machinations in 1399 England are worthy of a particularly harrowing Game of Thrones episode. Taking advantage of the absence of his cousin King Richard, who's off in Ireland, Henry of Bolingbroke returns with his allies from exile in France in an attempt to seize the crown for himself. Brother Rodric Chandler, known to look out for Bolingbroke's interests, is often called upon to question people being tortured in the Tower of London; he's ambivalent about his role and cynical about his lack of faith. One line of questioning leads to French wine importer Sire de Chienne, who flees the country with his family with the help of their neighbor Master Chaucer and their servant girl, Mattie, who fears Chandler yet is fascinated by him and is eventually drawn into his circle. Meanwhile, Sir Arnold Archer, Chandler's friend and city coroner, asks his help with the murder of a novice from the house at All Hollows whose nude body has been found with its throat slit, floating in the river. The nuns who claim she was running off with a lover are obviously hiding something. Chandler reluctantly continues his chores for Bolingbroke's faction as the house of Lancaster uses both force of arms and vicious trickery to win the throne back from the house of York. Although his search for the killer leads him into danger, Chandler's conscience will not let him ignore it. The mystery is a slender thread woven through rich historical detail in this intriguing introduction to a conflicted hero.

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