Alys Clare crafts compelling historical mysteries steeped in the evocative English countryside she knows intimately. Her writing is fueled by a deep appreciation for history and archaeology, meticulously researching both the setting and the spirit of the eras she portrays. Clare excels at weaving intricate narratives that draw readers into the captivating allure of the past.
February, 1212. Sir Josse d'Acquin and Helewise are summoned to Southfire Hall, where Josse's elderly uncle, Hugh, lies dying, surrounded by his children. But the pair soon discovers that Hugh's ill health is not the only cause of distress in the house, and the longer they remain there, the more they feel that something is very wrong . . .
A secretive stranger arrives at New Winnowlands, and Sir Josse d'Acquin guesses that he is a returning Crusader. But then the various demons who are on the man's trail begin to turn up, and Josse realizes that his mysterious guest has brought with him a terrible secret.
Abbess Helewise has been summoned by Queen Eleanor to discuss building a chapel at Hawkenlye Abbey. Meanwhile, Sir Josse dAcquin is trailing a group of knights rumoured to be devil worshippers. As Helewise heads home, Josse follows his quarry to Chartres, where he meets the last person he expects: Joanna and she has grave problems of her own.
"Come to me! I need you! These words bring apprentice healer Lassair awake one morning in the spring of 1092, trembling with terror. Soon Lassair is certain that one of her loved ones is in terrible danger ..."--Publisher description.
All Saint's Eve, 1211. An overweight but wealthy nobleman, desperate for an heir, dies at a celebration feast. The death seems natural, but healer Sabin is beset by doubts. There is only one person Sabin can turn to for help: fellow healer Meggie, daughter of Sir Josse d'Acquin. But what she requires of her is dangerous indeed . . .
1604.Gabriel Taverner is surprised to receive an urgent summons from his old naval captain, who believes his ship is haunted by an evil spirit. Dismissive of the crew's talk of blue-skinned ghosts, Gabriel is convinced there must be a rational explanation behind the mass hallucinations. But matters take a disturbing turn when a body is discovered...
In the latest Hawkenlye mystery, desperate men commit terrible crimes, but vengeance is on its way . . .Winter, 1211. Former abbess Helewise moves back to her cell near Hawkenlye Abbey to help the needy, putting a strain on her relationship with Sir Josse D'Acquin, who is called to examine the bodies of three men, one of whom bears a complicated symbol carved into his a symbol that signifies vengeance.Meanwhile, far from home, Sir Josse's son Ninian has become involved in the cause of the doomed Cathar people; soon to be swept up in a fight that they cannot hope to win
Apprentice healer Lassair isn't too alarmed when a travelling peddler relates a grizzly tale of a red-bearded giant breaking into a woman's home and caving in her skull like an eggshell; peddlers, she has observed, tend towards the dramatic. But her attitude changes when she learns that the dead woman is a distant relation. Obstreperous, elderly Utta will not be much missed, but the incident makes Lassair's family uneasy. For the intruder seemed to be searching for something. Something he did not find. What could it be? Lassair has no idea. Utta was not rich, and she had no precious heirlooms. But as the stranger grows increasingly desperate, and his search brings violence to her very home, Lassair must confront a terrifying thought: the killer will do anything to discover his prize, and he seems to think she knows where it is...
When Lassair encounters a veiled noblewoman on the quay at Cambridge, set on by an angry mob, she assumes involvement with her will be brief. She has no idea that the woman, alone but for her infant child, brings both mystery and peril. Then a devastating flood hits the fens, and among the wreckage and debris washed up at Aelf Fen is a body . . .
In the autumn of 1210, Abbess Caliste is concerned about the welfare of her nuns at Hawkenlye Abbey after King John's men have taken it over, Helewise has moved into Hawkenlye Mannor with Josse, and Helewise's eleven-year-old granddaughter, Rosamund, goes missing.