Hour of the Fox

September 1, 2019

In 1389, nun Hildegard of Meaux is sent to Whitby Abbey in northern England. As penance for her sins, she must barter with the Benedictine monks for a relic, a 700-year-old lock of hair of Abbess Hild of Whitby. Her companions on the winter journey are two monks and a young priest. When they arrive at Whitby, Hildegard discovers they are not the only ones interested in the relic. While waiting to view it and offer a price, the four travelers are caught up in the murder of a young monk. Their investigation uncovers secrets of the abbey, its tensions with the town, and the issues of taxes and land, and then another man is murdered. Before she and her companions return home, Hildegard will uncover the truth behind the killings and the connection to the abbey. VERDICT Although set centuries apart, Clark's tenth medieval mystery (following Murder at Meaux) and Cora Harrison's 1920s-set "Reverend Mother" series share similarly rich details of religious and political life. Readers who favor the political tensions and historical aspects of Ellis Peters's "Brother Cadfael" mysteries will further appreciate this leisurely paced story.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2019
As a punishment for her recently discovered sexual misconduct, Hildegard of Meaux, a pious but somewhat unconventional nun with a robust past, is sent on a mission to obtain a holy relic from Whitby Abbey. Unfortunately, her assignment becomes more complicated when the relic, purported to be a lock of St. Hild's hair, sparks a bidding war among both local gentry and representatives from other abbeys. Before the bidding can begin, the body of a young monk is discovered in a store. As Hildegard and her companions, two "monks militant" (recent veterans of the Crusades), and a naive young priest, undertake the investigation, it becomes evident that both the abbey and the town itself harbor dark and twisted secrets. Hildegard puts herself and her virtue at considerable risk in order to uncover a potentially treasonous plot and unmask a murderer. Authentically mired in fourteenth-century religion, politics, and social unrest, the tenth volume in Clark's consistently superior medieval mystery series will not disappoint fans of the genre.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)