Murder at Meaux(2018)

Cassandra Clark

It is midnight when Hildegard disembarks at Ravenser, accompanied by Abbot de Courcy and the two monks militant, Egbert and Gregory. Avignon, Salisbury and Netley Abbey are now behind them. Home to the Abbey of Meaux at last!
But before they reach the abbey the fog comes down and they are met by a cortege hurrying to bury a corpse in unconsecrated ground. The abbot is shocked when he hears that the dead man was found in the locked scriptorium at Meaux and when he looks inside the coffin he orders the cortege to return to the abbey at once.
Worse is to come. Next morning Hildegard is grief-stricken to learn that her childhood sweetheart, Ulf of Langbar, is to hang for murder.
With help from the renegade minstrel Pierrekyn Haverel and the two sword-carrying monks, Egbert and Gregory, she sets out to save Ulf and discover the secret of the body at Meaux.
But with a prisoner in the abbey jail Abbot de Courcy steps in. Threatening Hildegard with excommunication, he rages, "If we were in France I could have you burned as a witch!"
Is there any way out? How can she save Ulf from the hangman, discover the secret of the body in the locked chamber and find justice for herself?
Meanwhile, as ever, King Richard's enemies tighten their control over the realm of England and the young king walks in fear for his life.
"This stellar series" (Kirkus Review) tells the authentic story of the tragic reign of King Richard II and adds a criminal twist. Follow Hildegard of Meaux, nun and sleuth, in a desperate mission to save the king. From the Great Revolt of 1381 to the regicide in 1399 Hildegard and the Abbot fight the dark Lancastrian forces pitted against the people and the Crown.
"Medievalists rejoice! Hildegard is back!" Publishers' Weekly
"This is a dramatic mystery lavishly studded with period detail. Clark's best to date." Kirkus Review
"...Clark's prose is flawless." Daily Telegraph
"A neat, enjoyable 14th century mystery...interesting and atmospheric." Literary Review
"A medieval whodunit both delicate and dangerous, reeking of lust, treachery, greed and violence which keeps the reader at least one step behind." - Northern Echo
"I did not want this book to end." - Eurocrime.