Customer Reviews

Heart of Ice (Hawkenlye Mysteries)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Alys Clare's novels are like a breath of fresh air. I love medieval murder mysteries and there are certainly a lot of them about (thank goodness), but the authors books breathe new life into the period and her will they won't they situation with Helewise and Sir Josse, holds the reader's attention as well. Don't be swayed into thinking that these books are written with the female reader in mind. They are for everybody, young and old, male or female. Alys Clare lives in Kent where the Hawkenlye mysteries are set.

The year is 1194 and the winter weather is becoming increasingly bitter. A sick man is making is way to Hawkenlye Abbey where he hopes to obtain a cure for his illness by taking the Holy Water at the Abbey. In his delirium, the Virgin Mary appears before him, a miraculous sighting that is on a part with the sighting that led to the establishment of the Abbey. As the figure of a beautiful woman approaches the sick man he begins to pray, but she strikes him with a club and then rolls him into a ditch.

It is only when the winter thaw begins that the corpse is discovered. Everything points to the sick man being from France, as he has papers on him and tha Abbess asks Sir Josse d'Aquin if he can decipher them. Meanwhile the two travellers who found the body fall ill and the sickness bears a strong resemblance to the plague . . .

First Sentence: In the port of Boulogne, the enemy lay hidden.

A sick man travels to take the healing waters of Hawkenlye Abby but is murdered and thrown into the pond which turns to ice. When the monks discovered his body, it is also discovered he carried apothecary herbs. While Sir Josse d'Acquin, at the request of the Abbess, searches for the young man's identity and murderer, more sick arrive at the Abbey. The plague has come to Hawkenlye and the only help may come from Joanna of the Forest People and the powers of the old religion.

Despite my normal distain for prologues, this one was fascinating and a compelling lead into the story. And this was, for me, a story that had highs and lows.

Among the highs was Clare's description of how the plague traveled from Africa to England. I felt that was exceptionally well done. She also conveyed the limitations of medical knowledge, described care given during the period, although I suspect the Abbey was more advanced in their practices than common; and the devastating impact of a contagion.

I return to Clare's series for the characters as well. Helewise and Josse are central to the story and the respect and non-spoken, non-physical love between the two characters is beautifully drawn. However, Clare doesn't leave the rest of the characters standing in the shadows; she brings them forward, fully-drawn and important so that we are affected when things happen to them.

While I enjoy an element of the paranormal and appreciated learning what had happened to Joanna, Josse's former love and mother of his child, the time spent with her did, for me, slow the pace of the story and take me away from my main interest. But that's just me.

I very much enjoyed the book. Clare always manages to touch me emotionally and draw me back into this world. I am delighted to have many more books ahead of me in this series.

HEART OF ICE (Hist Mys-Abbess Helewise/Josse d'Acquin-England-1194) - G+
Clare, Alys - 9th in series
Hodder & Stoughton, ©2006, UK Hardcover - ISBN: 0340831162

As usual, Alys Clare delivers a spellbinding mystery. Just starting this book will guarantee that nothing else gets done until after the last page! Don't think that Hawkenlye Abbey is cursed with a violent nun, though; the nursing sisters are still working to heal the sick and wounded. Clare's depiction of the medieval threat of disease and disaster -- as well as courage, faith, and love is heartwarming. This knowledgeable author warms the heart and cheers the spirit, instead of becoming mired in the filth, stench and violence too frequently depicted in many medieval mysteries. An excellent work!
Marie L.

I've read all Hawkenlye Mysteries in order up to this book. The mysteries around Josse and the abbess are great read and can compare to Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael books, Roger the Chapman and other medieval mysteries. What puts me off with the recent books is the extensive elaboration of mythical phantasies around Joanna and the forest people. It disrupts the story by deviating too much too long into narrations that are unrelated to the original story, the respective murder or felony and the lovable characters at the abbey. I found myself just skipping those 45 pages about Joanna's "education" and continued with the original story: didn't miss anything important.