The Devil's Cup

March 14, 2016
Clare’s entertaining seventh Aelf Fen mystery (after 2015’s Blood of the South) opens in the autumn of 1094 with the discovery of a wealthy merchant with his throat torn out on a river bank near Cambridge, England. There’s nothing that apprentice healer Lassair or anybody can do but pray for the poor man’s soul. As the body count rises, Cambridge is thrown into an uproar, and rumors circulate that a legendary figure called the Night Wanderer has arisen and is stalking the populace. Sheriff Picot claims that a large animal is responsible, but Lassair and her lawman friend, Jack Chevestrier, are determined to prove that all too human hands are doing the killings. Lassair and Chevestrier desperately seek connections among the victims, even as it becomes apparent that Lassair herself may be a target due to her apprenticeship to a local wizard. Skillful pacing and a healthy dose of mysticism add to the appeal—especially for fans of medieval historicals.

May 1, 2016

In the autumn of 1094, Cambridge apprentice healer Lassair is called out to view a mutilated body on a riverbank, apparently the victim of a wild animal attack. When a second corpse is found, some believe the demon known as the Night Wanderer has returned to stalk the village. This seventh series entry (after Blood of the South) presents another fascinating look at medieval England.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2016
After the success of her Aelf Fen and Hawkenlye books, Clare turns her talents to a new historical mystery series, this one set in rural Devon, England, in the early seventeenth century. Former ship's doctor turned country physician Gabriel Taverner is called to investigate a brutal death, which at first looks like suicide. There are few clues to the dead man's identity, and it's only coincidence that leads Gabriel to the first loose thread that will eventually unravel the twisted truth. As he and local coroner Theophilus Davey work together to try to solve the case, they find what at first seem to be tenuous links to the area's silk trade. As those links become ever stronger, Gabriel and Theo eventually begin to suspect the tragic, which will have frightening implications for Gabriel and his family. But what is most shocking is that even those closest to him have been hiding dark and dangerous secrets. As always, Clare has carefully researched the period she is writing about and offers authentic, engaging historical detail, but her real gift is as a superb storyteller whose clever, twisty plots; believable characters; and skillful writing will engross the reader from first page to last.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

June 5, 2017
Set in 1216, Clare’s meandering 17th Hawkenlye mystery (after 2015’s A Shadowed Evil) finds King John, the Donald Trump of his day, battling the French and other splinter factions for control of England. Former knight Josse d’Acquin’s family is divided into those who back King John and those who consider him a lecherous traitor and tyrant. Josse, a supporter, is summoned by the king and gallops off to join him. Meanwhile, Josse’s herbalist and healer daughter, Meggie, has been called to Hawkenlye Abbey to treat a seemingly hysterical woman who has been brought there by her son, Faruq. Soon, Faruq and Meggie are on a quest to find the Devil’s Cup, an ancient treasure that leaves death and sorrow in its wake. The story pauses every now and then to slide in little shards of backstory, which the reader requires to understand the lives of Josse and his large and complicated clan. Newcomers would be well advised to start at the beginning of the series.

June 15, 2017
A turbulent time in British history draws to a shocking end.In the fall of 1216, Prince Louis of France has invaded England, and King John is fighting for his kingdom. Many of his barons have already gone over to Louis, but John still has loyal friends like Josse d'Acquin, who lives quietly in the House in the Woods with his family. His wife, Helewise, most of his sons, and Meggie, his daughter by his late former lover, the mystical forest woman Joanna, agree with Josse's support of John, but other members of the family dissent. When John sends a message calling for his help, Josse, his brother Yves, and Geoffroi, Josse's son by Joanna, leave to seek the king. Meggie, who has inherited her mother's healing gifts, is called to Hawkenlye Abbey to tend a woman who arrived with her son and has so far resisted any attempt by the nuns to heal her body and mind. Meggie and her lover, Jehan, have been divided by his unhappiness with the time she spends in her mother's secret hut deep in the woods, and he's sneaked off to join a band of fellow Bretons who plan to kill the king. At the abbey, Meggie finds Hadil and her son, Faruq. Hadil, deeply disturbed in her mind, insists that she must continue her secret quest to find the queen and overcome the power of a mysterious object of great evil. When Hadil is injured, Meggie agrees to go with Faruq, and he slowly learns to trust her with his knowledge of a mystical, dangerous secret rooted deep in the past of Jerusalem. When the three groups of travelers accidentally come together, their meeting will change their lives and the history of Britain. As usual, Clare (A Rustle of Silk, 2016, etc.) provides a pleasurable combination of mysticism and historical fact. The secret of that evil object makes this one of her better mysteries.

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.