In November 1382, the month of the dead, Abbess Hildegard rides out for York from the Abbey of Meaux. This is no ordinary journeyit is a time of rival popes, a boy king, and a shaky peace in the savage aftermath of Wat Tylers murderand Hildegard has embarked on a perilous mission to try to secure the future of her priory.
Traveling alone, she discovers danger, encountering first a gibbet with five bloodied corpses and then the body of a youth, brutally butchered. Who was the boy, how was he connected to the men hanging from the gibbet, and what do these gruesome deaths mean? Hildegard is determined to uncover the truth, no matter how terrible it may be. When even her childhood home, Castle Hutton, turns out not to be a safe haven from murder, Hildegard realizes she will have to summon all of her courage and wisdom to counter the dark forces that threaten her friends and family as well as her country.
"Medievalists rejoice! British author Clark's debut, the first in a projected series, offers careful plotting, well-drawn characters and smart dialogue." - Publishers Weekly.
"Starred Review. Historical mystery fans, especially those who long for more books by Ellis Peters and Sharon Newman, will snap this up. Highly recommended for all collections." - Library Journal.
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Cassandra Clark was awarded an M.A. from the University of East Anglia, and went on to teach for the Open University on the Humanities Foundation course. Since then she has written full time as a playwright and has been the author of many contemporary romances as well as the libretti for several chamber operas. She lives and works in London, and explains that her childhood in the East Riding of Yorkshire was her inspiration for the stories.

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