- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd (7 Nov 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0340831138
- ISBN-13: 978-0340831137
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.6 x 3.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,049,069 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Girl In A Red Tunic (Hawkenlye Mysteries)
and over 900,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
" 'Proof that a writer of medieval crime fiction can deliver something fresh' - The Times. 'A worthy heir to Ellis Peters, though grittler, materialises' - Poison in the Pen on FORTUNE LIKE THE MOON - 'Cunningly shifting sympathles among virtually all the players, Clere spotlights first Helewise, then Josse, in a detecting competition that lifts the partners above their predictable gender roles... immersing them in a suddenly engrossing tale.' - Kirkus Reviews. 'A rich and compelling mystery' - Tangled Web"
The Times on Fortune Like the Moon
‘Proof that a writer of medieval crime fiction can deliver something fresh’
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sir Josse Has Mixed Loyalties,
By
This review is from: Girl in a Red Tunic (Hawkenlye Mysteries) (Paperback)
Alys Clare's novels are like a breath of fresh air. I love medieval murder mysteries and there are certainly a lot of them about (thank goodness), but the authors books breathe new life into the period and her will they won't they situation with Helewise and Sir Josse, holds the reader's attention as well. Don't be swayed into thinking that these books are written with the female reader in mind. They are for everybody, young and old, male or female.
Richard the Lionheart is still hostage after the crusades, but his people are struggling to cope with the crippling amount they have had to pay to secure his ransom. Even before the problems with Richard's ransom not all of his subjects were enamoured of the King, who is hardly ever in the country he rules. No wonder his brother John is gathering to him a number of loyal followers. The Abbess Helewise has the difficult task of keeping her abbey going through the cold and brutal winter, as she tries to fend off starvation of her nuns and the local villagers. Then out of the blue Helewise's son returns to her, a son she has not seen for nearly 20 years. He claims that his wife is suffering mental illness and his son is a mute. He desperately needs help. But then a man is found strangled and hanging from a tree close by the abbey. Next day her son and his family flee and Sir Josse must investigate and delve into Helewise's past life before she took the veil. Were her husband and father in law all that they seemed? Can the Abbess prevent even more murder, or will the blame be laid at the door of her innocent son?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An Abbess, but not always a nun,
By
This review is from: Girl in a Red Tunic (Hardcover)
First Sentence: He had to wait until it was dark and everyone was asleep.
Abbess Helewise has been thinking about her life prior to joining the Abbey. She is surprised, yet concerned, when her son Loefgar, shows up with his wife, who looks pale and ill, and their 14-month son, who is unnaturally shy and won't speak. It is a relief to have her good friend, Josse d'Acquin, who had come to the Abbey ill but is recovered, on hand. When a man, who claims his brother was killed by Leofger in a dispute, is found hanged near the Abbey, Loefgar, and his family, disappear. Helewise fears for her son, and questions how events from the past are impact the present. The most important element of a book, to me, is the characters. It has always been the characters which have drawn me to this series. We learn much more about Helewise than in previous books. These were times when an Abbess needn't have been a nun, so it's nice to see her as a woman, learn about her past, and how she came to Hawkenlye Abbey. As always, we see the strength of the friendship between Helewise and Josse. Not only Helewise and Josse, but all the supporting characters come to life under Ms. Clare's hand, even the ones you don't trust. I do appreciate that we've see a transition in characters, since the beginning of the series. People come and go in life ad Clare handles it in a way which works. In most of the previous books, there has been a strong element of the metaphysical. I am one who, if done well, enjoys that. It is an element of this book as well, and it works. These were times when, even with the dominance of the Catholic Church, people, including the clergy, were highly superstitious and believed the ancient powers and abilities. Although it is quite clear that Ms. Clare is no fan of the Church, I would suspect any book set in this time, which did not include some reference to the metaphysical. Which leads to the third thing: I love English history. Not only did Ms. Clare include a map and genealogical chart at the beginning of the book, she clearly does her period research. Early in the story, Clare talks about King Henry being captured for ransom and the impact the levies was having on the lives of the people. She paints a vivid picture of people's lives, including the hunger and cold due to lack of money. A slight misstep is in the plotting. I did figure out the motive and villain before the end, which reduced my rating, but it didn't spoil the read for me. In fact, I was so drawn into the book, I never wanted to put it down, and found the ending quite sad, but rather lovely. I look forward to continuing with this series. GIRL IN A RED TUNIC (Hist Mys-Abbess Helewise/Josse d'Acquin-England-Middle Ages/1193) - G+ Clare, Alys - 8th in series Hodder & Stoughton, ©2005, UK Hardcover - ISBN: 0340831138
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews) 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Author losing her focus.,
By Lady Fiona - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Girl in a Red Tunic (Hawkenlye Mysteries) (Paperback)
As a lover of medieval mystries, I have enjoyed Alys Clare's previous novels, but am somewhat disappointed in this one. In it, she seems to be veering toward the "torn bodice" romance genre, concentrating less on the medieval aspects of the time and the development of a good mystery. Let's hope that the next book in the series has more resemblance to the writing of Ellis Peters and less to Barbara Cartland.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
her best yet,
By mizlee - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Girl in a Red Tunic (Hawkenlye Mysteries) (Paperback)
What a treat to see how the abbess got where she is! I still think she takes herself way too seriously, but at least now I understand why she's so conflicted. Unlike the books about Josse's romantic interest, which bored me to pieces, this one keeps you fascinated.
4.0 out of 5 stars
I saw the solution coming very early on,
By Roger D. Voeller - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Girl in a Red Tunic (Hawkenlye Mysteries) (Paperback)
This story was good, but I spotted the key to the mystery, or one of the mysteries, very early on, and that's extremely unusual for me. I usually never figure mysteries out until the last page. I don't want to give too much away, but it involves a desk, or rather a table...
|
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
