Hangman Blind

November, 1382. The month of the dead. At the Feast of St. Martin in the fifth year of King Richard's reign, a nun rides out for York and the Abbey of Meaux. But this is no ordinary journey. Rival popes, a boy on the English throne and a volatile peace in the savage aftermath of Wat Tyler's murder. Travelling alone, Hildegaard encounters a gibbet with five bloodied crow-stripped corpses, and later the body of a youth, brutally butchered. Who is he? And what is his connection to the hanged men? Murder will touch Hildegaard and those she loves even more closely as she rides on to her childhood home. Castle Hutton is riven by treachery. Old loyalties are shifting. Hildegard will need all her courage to counter the dark forces in the land. First in an engrossing new series of medieval mysteries, Hangman Blind introduces an intrepid new heroine.

'Clark capably draws out the turmoil of rebellion and fealty boiling under Richard II's insecure, juvenile reign, while giving Hildegard plenty of scope to poke her nose the violence engulfing the de Hutton dynasty' -- Financial Times 'Cassandra Clark's prose is flawless' -- Daily Telegraph 'Hildegard is an engaging protagonist, sensible, kindly, resourceful and believable; she is also endearing susceptible to a pair of Saxon blue eyes (Ulf) and Norman grey ones (Hubert). Fans of historical crime will relish this' -- Joanna Hines, Guardian 'A strong novel about how denying the past can destroy lives' -- Sunday Age 'A promising new heroine' -- Diplomat 'The political background is intriguing and Hildegard is a strong and likeable heroine with a big future' -- Huddersfield Daily Examiner 'The quality of research in this novel is obviously of the highest order and one can only look forward to the next in the series.' -- East Riding News 'Clark delivers a medieval whodunit which is both delicate and dangerous, reeking of lust, treachery, greed and violence and which keeps the reader at least one step behind' -- Northern Echo 'Hangman Blind is a brilliant book which I thoroughly enjoyed -- not just because it's set in 1382 with all the richness of that period, but because it's so well written' -- BFK Books 'A well written and engaging story' -- Euro Crime (online) 'The strength of the book...is in the quality of the historical imagination and the attempt at integrating the political and social situation into the plot' -- Reviewing the Evidence (online) 'A debut author with raw nerve ... this first book in Clark's series will delight historical crime fans who enjoy constant plot twists' -- Historical Novels Review

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