Music of the Distant Stars

October 11, 2010
At the start of Clare's engaging third Aelf Fen medieval mystery featuring apprentice healer Lassair (after February 2010's Mist over the Water), Lassair discovers a second body in the grave of her recently deceased grandmother, that of a pregnant young seamstress. Sir Alain de Villequier, a Norman knight and the local justiciar, seeks the killer, but Lassair, with her mystical powers, may prove more effective in discovering who strangled the girl, if only she can keep her imagination and her tongue under control. The charming, compassionate Sir Alain, Lassair learns, had more than a passing interest in the victim. Clare deftly evokes the tension between the Norman overlords and the Saxon natives of the fens as the former try to impose both Norman law and religion on the latter, who remain under the spell of the old religion. The murderer's identity will surprise most readers.

October 1, 2010

Apprentice healer Lassair, who lives in the small Fenland village of Aelf Fen, makes a visit to her grandmother's grave and is presented with yet another mystery.

Lassair's granny is buried on an island in the fens. Lassair's visit reveals the body of a lovely young pregnant woman hidden in the grave. Lassair hurries to Lakehall, the home of the local lord Gilbert de Caudebec, who announces that Sir Alain de Villequier, a Norman lord, has recently been appointed Justiciar for the area. The dead girl is Ida, a talented seamstress beloved by most, who is visiting Lakehall with her mistress lady Claude de Seés, who is betrothed to Villequier. Lassair is not only a talented healer but also has some mystical powers; these, along with her curious nature, make her the perfect person to investigate the murder. A visit to Ida's village reveals she was loved by an older married man, but he could not have been the father of her child. Lassair's brother is in love with Zarina, whose large childlike brother adored Ida. Lady Claude seems devastated by the death, but she is in truth a strange woman who wanted to be a nun but was forced by her mother to accept Villequier. Lassair roams far and wide searching for clues, but more murderous attacks will occur before the truth is revealed.

Clare's Aelf Fen series (Mist Over the Water, 2009, etc.) offers a charming combination of the mysterious and mystical; the third volume continues in the same vein.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 1, 2010

When Lassair, a young healer, goes to pray at her recently deceased grandmother's grave, she finds the body of a young, pregnant woman. Thus begins a story of love, greed, thwarted ambitions, and murder. VERDICT In her third series historical (Mist Over the Water; Out of the Dawn Light) set during the reign of William II (1055-1100), one of the genre's most underrated authors paints a haunting portrait of an unfamiliar time when old Saxon ways had to be hidden from Norman overlords.

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2010
Clare uses mysticism, mystery, and murderset against the dramatic backdrop of eleventh-century Norman Britainto create her unusual and engaging Aelf Fen series. Healer apprentice Lassair has a knack for getting involved in solving murders, but the last thing she expects when she visits her grandmothers grave is to find the body of a young woman. Lassair discovers ligature marks around the girls neck; she also notices that the victim was pregnant. Although the authorities launch their own investigation, Lassair wont rest until she finds out who murdered the girl, who turns out to have been a seamstress named Ida. Suspicion falls on several people, including a man whose love was spurned by Ida and Derman, a man-boy not quite right in the head. Then another body is found, and the initial suspects are ruled out as Idas killers, both raising the stakes and complicating the case. A gripping, atmospheric mystery that will keep readers engaged throughout.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)