Fortune Like the Moon - Softcover

Clare, Alys

3.84

1,599 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312976321 ISBN 13: 9780312976323

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 2001

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It is 1157, and a young nun from Hawkenlye Abbey has been found with her throat slashed. The people of rural Kent are quick to jump to conclusions: Surely the murderer must be one of the felons released by the new king, Richard Plantagenet, as a sign of his goodness and charity. When King Richard dispatches a soldier of fortune, Josse d'Acquin, to investigate the shockingly brutal crime, Josse understands that his true mission is to absolve the king from blame. But neither the king nor Josse has reckoned with the one person who is determined to find the truth at all costs--the remarkable Abbess of Hawkenlye, who ultimately joins with Josse to uncover the menace lurking behind the orderly facade of life in the convent and the surrounding manors. Fortune Like the Moon not only recreates the violence and beauty of medieval times but introduces a truly wonderful new pair of detectives.

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About the Author:

ALYS CLARE lives in Tonbridge, England, in the area where Fortune Like The Moon is set. This is the first in a series of medieval mysteries set in the Weald of Kent.

From Library Journal:

The medieval era is a popular setting for mysteries these days, as evidenced by these three new titles. Clare introduces a new heroine, the exemplary Abbess of Hawkenlye, who must join forces with an emissary from Richard Plantagenet to solve the murder of first one and then two young nuns. The ending is a little limp, but the writing is fine, and the abbess is an engaging character, one of the few religious in such mysteries (along with Sister Fidelma) actually to be presented in a positive light. Wolf brings back the hero of No Dark Place, Hugh de Leon, who in his first mystery discovered that he was heir to the Earl of Wiltshire. Hugh is determined to marry his feisty beloved despite opposition from the earl and is subsequently caught up in investigating the murder of the father of the bride the earl intends for him. The cool, savvy Hugh is almost too good to be true, and the psychic communication between him and his true love doesn't seem to fit with the otherwise realistically detailed surrounds, but the plot moves along quite nicely and should entertain most fans. Over the last few years. the publisher has been releasing Jecks's series featuring Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace in 14th-century England, in an attractive little mass-market format. Like all Jecks's tales, this one--concerning the suspicious death of the new master of Throwleigh, a five-year-old boy--is nicely detailed and tightly argued, with involving action and memorable characters. The whole series belongs in any collection where historicals are popular.
-Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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