Smart, interesting and fun - a great tale. ( )

Compellingly depicted medieval setting, complete with believable woman of influence, excellent mystery, and fascinating political intrigue. ( )

Cassandra Clark weaved a mystery from many angles. Rather than read and re-read the clues of one mystery, she added more mystery as each event progressed. The description of some of the deceased, although intense, kept with the period and allowed the reader to stay focused on the mystery, not the horror.
Because of the many characters (thus the added suspects), I struggled to remember who was who, even with her careful hints that helped place them.
I was disappointed that not all the threads were complete, in fact one murderer was left at large. And the bits of "attention toward romance" was not finished. ( )

So-so. But I don't understand how a nun could travel by herself, even with her dogs. I thought they had to travel in pairs. ( )

Hildegard, a nun in 14th Century England travels through Yorkshire to find a grange to start her own house of nuns with money left from a deceased husband. She has contacts to the West, but on her way there she finds hanged men and a mutilated boy and finds that the danger and horror doesn't stop once she reaches her old home.

I am not a historical fiction reader, but I am wanting to try all sorts of genres so I took the plunge since this one did not seem so engrossed with romance and love. I am saddened I didn't like this book, but not particularly surprised. I read around 100 pages before I began skimming, and then I became tired and turned to the ending.

It was handy that at the end there, I found the protagonist Hildegard re-visiting the Abbot from the beginning of the novel and tells him the entire story, because I skipped everything and just read that. I don't think this is great storytelling and I was terribly disappointed by the book. It wasn't particularly badly written-though there were a few mistakes and some sentences that could be worded better-I just was not gripped by the characters or happenings. For a historical novel, it was less historical and more story.

I did enjoy learning about the state of England at that time and I have noted from other reviewers that it is mostly or completely accurate, which I'm pleased with. Accurate history is something I covet. ( )