‘Murder at Whitby Abbey’ by Cassandra Clark

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

Cassandra Clark was born in the East Riding of Yorkshire where she grew up in a village near the ancient medieval market town of Beverley. For several years she wrote scripts for the theatre, radio and television as well as contemporary fiction while tutoring at the Open University. She won a Directors' Guild Award for a stage play and ran a lunch-time theatre in a Tudor inn in York.  She is the author of the acclaimed series featuring Abbess Hildegard. There are 13 books in the series. Her most recent series features Brother Chandler. The latest book is The Night of the Wolf, which will be published in June 2023.  Her childhood spent in Yorkshire was her inspiration for the series.

                                 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.

http://judithcranswick.co.uk/