The Red Velvet Turnshoe

Starred review from October 5, 2009
Set in 1383, Clark’s compelling second historical (after Feb. 2009’s Hangman Blind
) takes Sister Hildegard, healer and sleuth, to Italy on a secret mission “to bring back the legendary cross of Constantine,” a powerful relic coveted by the archbishop of York. In the guise of a pilgrim, Hildegard joins an armed baggage train that includes a shipment of wool. When the stinking corpse of a clerk with his throat slashed turns up in a crate of wool on the travelers’ arrival in Flanders, Hildegard has to wonder who would want to murder a lowly clerk. With England in the middle of the Hundred Years’ War and Europe divided between rival popes, everyone’s allegiances and loyalties are uncertain. The author paints an authentic picture of late medieval life as Hildegard journeys from the Yorkshire moors to thriving Flemish towns and on to alpine passes leading to the wealth of early Renaissance Italy. Enough questions remain at the end to leave readers eagerly anticipating the next installment.