Published
by Severn House,
28 June 2019,
ISBN: 978-0-72788953-9
One of the many attractions of crime fiction is the wide and varied range of its sub-genres from the more gentle classic novels of golden age, cozy crime, police procedurals, psychological suspense to the high suspense of Scandi-noir. Currently, it would seem that historical crime is one of the most popular.
As its title suggests, Cassandra Clark’s ‘Murder at Whitby Abbey’ is set in medieval time during the reign of Richard II. It is the tenth book in the series which has as its protagonist Hildegard of Meaux, a Cistercian nun. In this story Hildegard is sent on a gruelling three-day journey from her priory at Swyne to the powerful Benedictine Abbey at Whitby to negotiate a price for a 700-year-old relic, a lock of hair of Saint Hild. She is accompanied by a young priest, Luke, and two militant monks, Gregory and Egbert, who Abbot Hubert de Courcy has sent to ensure she comes to no harm.
It is evident from their first arrival that things are not as they expected. In the abbey guest house, Hildegard finds other visitors who are also interested in buying the holy relic which means that Hildegard must enter a bidding war. Life in the Benedictine Abbey is in stark contrast to the vows of poverty and concern for the poor that is practised back in her own priory. The unfair rents and taxes charged by the abbey and the harsh treatment of the town’s fishermen making it impossible for them to make their living, cause considerable friction with the townsfolk. As the situation worsens and the dissent grows, Clark builds on the tension until it becomes all too evident that matters will soon come to a head.
Not long after they arrive at Whitby, a monk is found dead in the apple storage cellar. Hildegard and her companions are asked by the Abbot to investigate the death.
Clark brilliantly captures not only the period, the harsh life of the ordinary people and the corruption in certain parts of fourteenth-century religious life, but also the wildness and desolation of the North Yorkshire coast during a harsh winter.
The characters are well drawn – the reclusive abbot, the all-powerful autocratic bursar Hertilpole who appears to be running the abbey and the young naïve Father Luke who becomes bewitched by local woman. One of my favourites was the elderly Brother Dunstan in charge of the infirmary. Hildegard herself is no ideal nun. The mission to Whitby is her penance for past sin.
The plot builds to a crescendo that
has the reader of a knife edge, feeling a range of emotions – dread, fear, even
terror. A good read.
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Reviewer: Judith Cranswick
www.judithcranswick.co.uk
https://www.cassandraclark.co.uk
Judith Cranswick was
born and brought up in Norwich. Apart from writing, Judith’s great passions are
travel and history. Both have influenced her two series of mystery novels. Tour
Manager, Fiona Mason takes coach parties throughout Europe, and historian Aunt
Jessica is the guest lecturer accompanying tour groups visiting more exotic
destinations aided by her nephew Harry. Her published novels also include several
award-winning standalone psychological thrillers. She wrote her first novel
(now languishing in the back of a drawer somewhere) when her two children were
toddlers, but there was little time for writing when she returned to her
teaching career. Now retired, she is able to indulge her love of writing and
has begun a life of crime! ‘Writers are told to write what they know about, but
I can assure you, I've never committed a murder. I'm an ex-convent school
headmistress for goodness sake!’ Her most recent book is Peril in Persia.
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