MURDER AT BEAULIEU ABBEY

Barely recovered from her last outing in Murder at Whitby Abbey (2019), Sister Hildegard is sent on a mission to distant Beaulieu Abbey in February 1390.

A papal schism is ripping their order apart, and the prioress has found a good excuse to send Hildegard down from Yorkshire to spy on Beaulieu, on the south coast of England, which is much closer to France and the anti-pope. Sir William de Hutton has arranged his son’s betrothal to a 12-year-old Cornish heiress, and Hildegard is going to escort the girl back to Swyne, where she’ll live until she’s old enough to marry. Hildegard's companions, Brother Gregory and Brother Egbert, are well traveled and experienced in warfare. The ship carrying Lady Elowen from Cornwall docks an hour’s walk from Beaulieu; for some reason, Elowen is sent ashore first with a casket of gold and is immediately abducted by unknown men. A large area around the abbey is enclosed, but after days when every available man was pressed into the search, Elowen is still missing. William de Hutton puts up a big fuss, but Hildegard, who knows his many flaws, doesn’t completely trust him or the monks who’ve split the abbey over the schism. Outlaws who’ve been granted sanctuary by the Abbey also live nearby; certainly they’d be tempted by gold. The final piece of the puzzle is the notorious gang leader Black Harry. When Hildegard is captured by Black Harry, she’s placed in great danger but drawn much closer to finding Elowen.

Historical detail abounds in a fast-paced mystery that’s one of Clark’s best.