Tuesday, January 24, 2012

A Parliament of Spies-Cassandras Clark

A Parliament of Spies


Cassandras Clark

Minotaur, Jan 31 2012, $25.99

ISBN: 9780312595746



These are chaotic times in England under the unsteady rule of King Richard II and the viable threat of a French invasion. In these dangerous times, Abbess Hildegard prefers to rusticate in prayer.



However, though she insists she has no skills, York Archbishop Alexander Neville orders the nun to come with him to the Parliament meeting at Westminster in London, where she will be his spy; a role she is extremely uncomfortable with. Before they leave York, Neville assigns her a short clock to investigate the murder of Martin his saucier drowned in a wine vat filled with water and barley. The road to London is filled with violence as Hildegard thinks no place not even near the monarch is safe in these dangerous divisive partisan times.



This is a great medieval historical thriller as murder, mayhem and politics converge in fourteenth century England. The storyline is fast-paced as a power struggle that makes Machiavelli seems like an amateur manipulator. Timely, readers will relish Cassandra Clark’s strong entertaining Abbess Hildegard tale (see The Law of Angels).



Harriet Klausner

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