Blood of the south

Format:

Book

Title:

Blood of the south

Author:

Clare, Alys author

ISBN:

9780727884329

9781847515414

Edition:

First world edition.

Publication:

Sutton, Surrey, England : Severn House Pub Ltd, 2014.

Physical Description:

230 pages : genealogical table, map ; 23 cm.

Series title(s):

Aelf Fen Norman series.

Summary:

In Autumn of 1093, Lassair encounters a veiled noblewoman on the quay at Cambridge, set on by an angry mob. She has no idea that the woman, alone but for her infant child, brings both mystery and peril. Then a devastating flood hits the fens, and among the wreckage washed up Aelf Fen is a body. Lassair, in the company of a sheriff's officer, wonders if she is dealing with murder. Meanwhile, in the south, Lassair's beloved Rollo is moving with relief towards the conclusion of his mission for King William in the Holy Land. But then disaster strikes, and, with the mighty forces of an emperor on his heels, abruptly he turns from hunter to hunted. In order to escape alive, he risks help from a stranger, and embarks on a voyage that turns out to be far more dangerous than he could ever have imagined.

Subject(s):

Lassair (Fictitious character) -- Fiction.

Fens, The (England) -- Fiction.

Great Britain -- History -- Norman period, 1066-1154 -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Fens, The (England) -- Fiction.

Great Britain -- History -- Norman period, 1066-1154 -- Fiction.

England -- The Fens.

Great Britain.

Genre:

Detective and mystery stories.

Detective and mystery fiction.

Fiction.

History.

Mystery fiction.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Salem Main Library	MYSTERY Clare, A.	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Apprentice healer Lassair encounters a mysterious veiled noblewoman who brings unexpected peril

When Lassair encounters a veiled noblewoman on the quay at Cambridge one morning, set on by an angry mob, she assumes involvement with her will be brief. She has no idea that the woman, alone but for her infant child, brings both mystery and peril. Then a devastating flood hits the fens, and among the wreckage and debris washed up at Aelf Fen is a body; Lassair, in the company of a sheriff's officer, wonders if she is dealing with murder . . .

Meanwhile, in the south, Lassair's partner Rollo is moving with relief towards the conclusion of his mission for King William in the Holy Land. But then disaster strikes, and, with the mighty forces of an emperor on his heels, abruptly he turns from hunter to hunted. In order to escape alive, he risks help from a stranger, and embarks on a voyage that turns out to be far more dangerous than he could ever have imagined.

Author Notes

Alys Clare lives in the English countryside, where her novels are set. She went to school in Tonbridge and later studied archaeology at the University of Kent. She is also the author of the Hawkenlye, Gabriel Taverner and World's End Bureau mystery series.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

At the start of Clare's impeccably paced sixth Aelf Fen novel (after 2013's Land of the Silver Dragon), apprentice healer Lassair helps rescue a foreign woman and her infant son from a mob in Cambridge in the fall of 1093. When Lassair and the sheriff's man, Jack Chevestrier, later go looking for the woman's missing family members, receding flood waters reveal a body that raises suspicions of murder. Meanwhile, Lassair's Norman lover, Rollo, is on a covert mission to Miklagard (modern Istanbul) and the Holy Land for King William. New Age fans will appreciate how Lassair employs a "shining stone" to see events occurring elsewhere. As she grows more confident using the stone's power, she becomes more assertive within her extended family and community. Clare does a good job generating tension by shifting the narrative in between England and Byzantium. Adding period flavor are the religious feelings characters evince at the beginning of the Crusades. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Clare offers another installment in her atmospheric historical series set in the fens of eleventh-century England. Lassair, the young healer, is in Cambridge when she sees a veiled noblewoman with a baby being harassed by an angry mob. Lassair and her teacher rescue the woman, who refuses to reveal much about herself except that her husband is dead and she's come to the fens to find his wealthy family. Then, after a terrible storm, the drowned body of a young woman is found lodged against a bridge. Apparently she's a victim of the storm, but Lassair's intuition suggests otherwise. The investigation is led by lawman Jack Chevestrier; guiltily, Lassair, whose true love, Rollo, is far away in Constantinople, finds herself attracted to him. As the two struggle to unravel the mysteries, they have no idea that their search will link to Rollo's quest. Clare's grasp of the social customs and political and religious struggles of the time combined with her knack of weaving a mesmerizing story makes this new Aelf Fen installment a winner.--Melton, Emily Copyright 2014 Booklist

Library Journal Review

The sixth book in Clare's Aelf Fen series (after Land of the Silver Dragon) continues the story of Lassair, an apprentice healer living in Norman England in 1093. While in Cambridge, Lassair encounters a widowed noblewoman under attack from an angry mob. She rescues the woman and brings her and her infant son back to her home in the fen country of East Anglia, but a flood soon engulfs the village. The body of an unidentified woman is discovered after the waters recede, and Lassair finds herself allied with sheriff's deputy Jack Chevestrier in his quest to identity the corpse. In a parallel plot, Lassair's love interest Rollo Guiscard is in the Holy Land on an espionage mission for King William. After being severely beaten, he is rescued by a stranger who nurses him back to health and secures his passage back to England. An interesting turn of events unites the two seemingly unrelated stories. Verdict Lassair's family tree in the front of the book will help new readers identify the characters, and the well-researched historical details draw readers into another place and time. Historical fiction fans who enjoy such authors as Ellis Peters, Simon Beaufort, Susanna Gregory, and Margaret Frazer will delight in exploring Clare's medieval world.-Jean King, West Hempstead P.L., NY (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.