The Rufus Spy

December 18, 2017
Set in 1093, Clare’s engrossing eighth Aelf Fen mystery finds mystic and apprentice healer Lassair filled with conflicted feelings for Jack Chevestrier, whom she saved from death in 2016’s The Night Wanderer. When she leaves Chevestrier’s Cambridge for her home in the fens, she unwittingly puts herself in the killing zone of a vengeance-obsessed stranger. One young man is already dead, and while she’s staying in the fens another, Sibert, is attacked. No one knows why. When her former lover, Rollo, a spy for King William Rufus, asks Lassair to accompany him in his effort to evade the violence, she agrees. The couple’s attempts to throw the killer off their scent range from disguising themselves as nobility and staying in a castle to sleeping in a monk’s hovel. Newcomers may struggle to untangle the many relationships, particularly those among the inhabitants of the fenlands, but all will relate to the empathetic Lassair and her authentic emotional responses to the people in her life, whether mentor, parent, lover, friend, or would-be murderer.

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.)

December 1, 2017
England, 1093. Lassair, an apprentice healer, is occupied with nursing lawman Jack Chevestrier, her sometime lover, back to health after he is injured in a fight with the sheriff's nephew. Then Lassair discovers she is pregnant with Jack's child. She fears that if he finds out, he will want to marry her and perhaps stop her from continuing her career as a healer. So as soon as Jack is stable, she flees to her family home in the fens, where she encounters Rollo, Lassair's former lover and a spy for King William, who begs Lassair to help him. He's being pursued by an unknown enemy who seems bent on killing him and believes that by traveling as a couple with Lassair, he'll be able to throw his adversary off the trail. What follows is a dark tale of adventure, revenge, greed, love, and loss. Vivid details of life in eleventh-century England, combined with an engaging cast and plenty of genuine suspense, will keep historical-mystery devotees firmly in Clare's corner.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)