Ashes of the Elements (Hawkenlye Mystery Trilogy) [Hardcover]

Alys Clare (Author)

Book Description

Series: Hawkenlye Mystery Trilogy | Publication Date: April 10, 2001

In this, Book II of the Hawkenlye Trilogy, the Abbess Helewise takes on another strange case with her French partner, Josse d'Acquin. A lumberjack in the Wealken forest has been found dead. The locals would have it that the mythical Forest People are to blame for his violent end. But when the Abbess Helewise steps in to investigate, she thinks a supernatural solution too easy an answer. She consults her friend Josse d'Acquin, a French soldier of fortune who has helped her many a time. He, concerned about the safety of the abbey, ventures into the forest himself, only to find in this so-called haunted wood something that terrifies even him. Now the two must reconcile superstition with their better judgement.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Following the success of 2000's Fortune Like the Moon, British author Clare shows in this sequel why many consider her a worthy successor to Ellis Peters. One summer night in the Wealden Forest, an expertly thrown spear with a well-chiseled flint point pierces the heart of a poacher. Abbess Helewise of neighboring Hawkenlye Abbey sends for the sheriff, who dismisses the murder as the work of the "Wild People," a strange band of wanderers who come to the forest every June, according to local lore. The abbess thinks the sheriff a fool, but until the arrival of her friend, enlightened knight Sir Josse d'Acquin, she must remain content with the official version of events. Determined to discover what really happened that night, Sir Josse finds evidence that the murdered man and his cohorts had more to poach than small game, and that life in the forest and life in the abbey are not as separate as they may seem. A missing novice and a second body deepen the mystery. Sir Josse's respect for the abbess's intelligence and integrity is just one of his charms, while the struggle both characters go through to reconcile their religious convictions with the superstitions surrounding the night forest adds more than usual interest. Those expecting naughty nuns and frolicsome friars will be disappointed. Clare's intricate, satisfying plot and her wide array of well-drawn minor characters help put her at the forefront of the medieval mystery field.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

A well and gently written historical cozy featuring the abbess Helewise and her friend, the French knight Josse d'Acquin. Josse supports Richard the Lionheart, and Helewise admires Queen Eleanor, who founded Hawkenlye Abbey, where the novel takes place. When the body of a local ne'er-do-well is found in an ancient forest adjacent to the abbey, the sheriff dismisses it as the work of the Forest People. As Helewise worries about two young wards of the abbey who must make decisions about their futures, and Josse begins to investigate the crime in the forest, another murder occurs. When Helewise and Josse venture into the forest, a new mystery unfolds that concerns both the murders and the abbey's young charges. The relationship between the widowed abbess and the soldier of fortune is done with a firm, light touch. Its unmedieval overtones can be overlooked in the face of Helewise's elegant character and straightforward religious faith. Readers will be impatient to have this oddly matched but engaging duo back again. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur; 1st edition (April 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312261241
• ISBN-13: 978-0312261245
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,544,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars an engaging read, March 20, 2001

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ashes of the Elements (Hawkenlye Mystery Trilogy) (Hardcover)

If you're looking for a mystery novel that baffles and intrigues you, with breath neck-like action, then "Ashes Of The Elements" is NOT for you. However if you're looking for a well written and captivating historical mystery novel that unfolds in a more leisurely manner, and that gives you a glimpse of life in 12th century England and with fully developed and engaging characters, then this is the book for you.

Wealden Forest is a place that is full of dark and mysterious secrets -- it is even whispered that the Forest People still meet there when the moon is full to practise their dark and strange ways! And the good people of Tonridge take great care not to be in the woods once night has fallen. Apparently the local poacher, Hamm Robinson, must not have placed much stock in these rumours, as one fine June morning, Abbess Helewise of Hawkenlye Abbey finds Hamm dead from a spear wound on a path that leads from the forest. The Sheriff of Tonridge, a man of strong convictions and little imagination, immediately blames the Forest People for Hamm's murder. And indeed the fine workmanship of the spear that was used to kill Hamm seems to backup the Sheriff's theory. However Abbess Helewise is not so sanguine. She instinctively senses that there is more to Hamm's murder, and when her good friend Josse d'Acquin pays her a visit upon his return from France, Helewise shares her misgivings about the whole affair with him.

Sharing Helewise's doubts, Josse decides to look into the matter and hopefuly without stepping on the Sheriff's toes. However he hasn't gotten very far in his investigations when another poacher is found dead. This time however the Sheriff cannot blame the Forest People for the murder as it becomes obvious that this poacher was killed with a dagger, and in what seems to have been a frenzy of violence. What exactly is going on in the forest, and for what dark reason were both poachers killed? Helewise and Josse team up again to discover exactly what dark secrets the Forest holds before more people are murdered.

While this novel is not one of those page-turning chilling historical mystery novels that boast of a murder, mayhem and a fiendishly clever plot, it is not a boring read either. Indeed this novel has a very atmospheric feel to it, esp when the story takes the reader into Wealden Forest. Alys Clare does a brilliant job of evoking the darkness and the mysteriousness of the forest. I also enjoyed the glimpses that Clare gives the reader of the day-to-day life of the nuns and monks at Hawkenlye Abbey; and of the rare and unique friendship that Josse and Helewise share.

"Ashes Of The Elements" is not a typical historical mystery novel. While the activities that take place in the forest are indeed dire, there are few red herrings or real twist and turns in the plot -- indeed the mystery unfolds in a very straight forward manner. However this book is very well written and is engaging and captivating in its own way. So if you're looking for something not quite in the Paul Doherty/Edward Marston realm, this novel should satisfy.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars We couldn't get enough of Josse and Helewise, July 23, 2001

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ashes of the Elements (Hawkenlye Mystery Trilogy) (Hardcover)

and so they're back.

Seeing Sir Josse and Abbess Helewise in action again was the high point of this interesting story. Building on the fondness that started in FORTUNE LIKE THE MOON, author Alys Clare introduces a heightened degree of sexual tension between these two characters.

In this story, a man is killed in the ancient forest near the Abbey. The Sheriff writes it up to the 'forest people,' mythical dwellers who still worship the goddess and have strange rites they carry out with the full moon. Helewise doesn't believe the Sheriff has properly investigated and asks for Josse's help.

Because ASHES OF THE ELEMENTS has more to do with the forest than with the medieval setting, it lacks some of the historical detail that made FORTUNE LIKE THE MOON so interesting. The larger problem, for me at least, was that Josse and Helewise really didn't do much to solve the mystery. Here, their powers of observation that proved so critical in FORTUNE barely opened the doors. They relied on luck and psychic connections to finally discover who did the killing.

ASHES OF THE ELEMENTS is a fine novel, but it lacks the punch that the earlier FORTUNE provided.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The knight and the abbess, May 7, 2008

By 

Linda Pagliuco "katknit" (CT, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Ashes of the Elements (Hawkenlye Mysteries) (Paperback)

This is the second Hawkenlye novel I've read. While the writing of Alys Clare lacks the edge of Ellis Peters', Clare's settings, characters, and time period add interest to her mysteries. In Ashes, several murders occur in the immediate vicinity of Abbess Helewise's abbey. The sheriff is little more than an idiot, and she turns to her friend Sir Josse to get to the bottom of first one crime, then another and another. Are they related? Who could the murderer be? What could the motive be? The investigation, following some puzzling behavior on the part of 2 young women staying at the abbey, takes Josse and the Abbess into the woods for a very long night. The rumor that the ancient People may be back to celebrate their vile rituals brings about some tantalizing happenings.

Definitely a "cozy", Ashes brings little suspense to the story line. Generally speaking, life in the middle ages is accurately represented, but there are errors (people back then did not wear undergarments, for instance.) Comportment for the most part is oh so proper, and Helewise is the epitome of wisdom and saintliness. Still, interesting conundrums are brought to the surface along the way, and make for a pleasant, engaging read.