It moves quite nicely and the characters are as interesting as they need to be. She becomes entangled with a series of mysterious deaths at a Yorkshire castle while she is visiting in hopes of securing a donation for a new abbey from its lord. This was not bad at all, although I had some quibbles.Overall, a decent medieval England mystery, with a Cistercian nun playing the role of our investigator. 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. For a historical novel, it was less historical and more story. 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. I don't think this is great storytelling and I was terribly disappointed by the book. 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 read around 100 pages before I began skimming, and then I became tired and turned to the ending. I am saddened I didn't like this book, but not particularly surprised. 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. 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. 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.

Hangman blind cassandra clark