The Paths of the Air
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

England, 1196. Sir Josse d'Acquin is bored with managing his estate and longs to get back to his first love, soldiering. Failing that, he'd be content with returning to his beloved Hawkenlye Abbey, where he can find peace, good conversation, and a warm drink. But his boredom turns to interest when a stranger dressed in travel-stained robes appears at his door. Josse assumes the mysterious, dark-skinned man is a servant of one of the Crusaders recently returned from Outremer. The man stays a few days in Josse's outbuilding, then mysteriously disappears. At first offended, then puzzled, Josse determines to learn the fate of the secretive stranger. When a local merchant discovers the brutalized body of a man beneath a tree in the nearby forest, Josse discovers a connection between the dead man and the stranger. His attempt to unravel the baffling mystery soon leads him into a tangled web of blackmail and murder. Clare is a gifted storyteller whose vibrant characters, unusual plot, and vivid descriptions of life in twelfth-century England make for a period mystery with immense appeal.--Melton, Emily Copyright 2008 Booklist

Clare's absorbing 11th entry in her Hawkenlye series (The Enchanter's Forest, etc.) highlights the many perils of life in medieval England. One cold November day in 1196, an exhausted stranger arrives at the estate of Sir Josse d'Acquin, a loyal soldier of the king bored with inactivity. Josse gives the man shelter in an outbuilding, suspecting him to be the servant of a crusader recently returned from the Holy Land. After a fortnight, the stranger abruptly vanishes, then a body, brutalized beyond recognition, turns up in the nearby woods. Meanwhile, a prisoner exchange gone wrong has led to a hunt across Europe for a runaway monk carrying unknown treasure. Josse relies on Abbess Helewise of Hawkenlye Abbey for counsel and solace, while the local sheriff, Gervase de Gifford, helps Josse track down a secret with the potential to change warfare forever. A lurid subplot set in the Holy Land adds to the suspense. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.

Abbess Helewise of Hawkenlye and her friend Sir Josse d'Acquin are caught up in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. John Damianos, a closely hooded and exhausted stranger, appears to be a Saracen servant who's been abandoned by the returning crusader he was serving. Whoever and whatever he is, Josse can't turn him away. When Damianos vanishes and a tortured body is found near Hawkenlye, Josse and Helewise want to determine if they are one and the same. The plot thickens when Hawkenlye is visited by three members of the Order of the Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, led by Thibault of Margat. They claim to be seeking a runaway monk of their order but are closemouthed about their reasons. The next day Josse is visited by two Saracens tasked with recovering a treasure they say Damianos has stolen from their master in Outremer. Even when one of the Hospitallers is killed in a mysterious fire and the other two are badly injured, Thibault still refuses to divulge his real reason for seeking the missing monk. It is up to Josse and Helewise to discover who Damianos really is and why such disparate and dangerous men are on his trail. Adroitly weaving medieval history into a rousing and mystical tale, the latest in the Hawkenlye series (The Enchanter's Forest, 2008, etc.) may be Clare's best yet. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

England, 1196. Sir Josse d'Acquin is bored with managing his estate and longs to get back to his first love, soldiering. Failing that, he'd be content with returning to his beloved Hawkenlye Abbey, where he can find peace, good conversation, and a warm drink. But his boredom turns to interest when a stranger dressed in travel-stained robes appears at his door. Josse assumes the mysterious, dark-skinned man is a servant of one of the Crusaders recently returned from Outremer. The man stays a few days in Josse's outbuilding, then mysteriously disappears. At first offended, then puzzled, Josse determines to learn the fate of the secretive stranger. When a local merchant discovers the brutalized body of a man beneath a tree in the nearby forest, Josse discovers a connection between the dead man and the stranger. His attempt to unravel the baffling mystery soon leads him into a tangled web of blackmail and murder. Clare is a gifted storyteller whose vibrant characters, unusual plot, and vivid descriptions of life in twelfth-century England make for a period mystery with immense appeal. Copyright 2008 Booklist Reviews.

Clare's absorbing 11th entry in her Hawkenlye series (The Enchanter's Forest , etc.) highlights the many perils of life in medieval England. One cold November day in 1196, an exhausted stranger arrives at the estate of Sir Josse d'Acquin, a loyal soldier of the king bored with inactivity. Josse gives the man shelter in an outbuilding, suspecting him to be the servant of a crusader recently returned from the Holy Land. After a fortnight, the stranger abruptly vanishes, then a body, brutalized beyond recognition, turns up in the nearby woods. Meanwhile, a prisoner exchange gone wrong has led to a hunt across Europe for a runaway monk carrying unknown treasure. Josse relies on Abbess Helewise of Hawkenlye Abbey for counsel and solace, while the local sheriff, Gervase de Gifford, helps Josse track down a secret with the potential to change warfare forever. A lurid subplot set in the Holy Land adds to the suspense. (Aug.)