A Parliament of Spies: A Mystery (Abbess Hildegard of Meaux)
Wow, there is no shortage of plot devices in Clark’s fourth, jam-packed Abbess Hildegard historical mystery. Murder, mayhem, molestation—not to mention both political and romantic intrigue—all play a part as Hildegard travels to London with the Archbishop of York to spy on Richard II’s enemies in Parliament. Before she departs, a man is murdered, and her dark journey, undertaken amid the threat of a French invasion, continues to deepen along the way. When her long-presumed-dead husband turns up claiming both her estate and his spousal privileges, she is rescued by a fellow spy, who appears to be working for the other side. Drawn into a passionate romantic entanglement with the mysterious Rivera, she is poised on a dangerous precipice that may change the course of her life. Hildegard, distinguished by her complexity of character, is a medieval sleuth on a personal as well as a professional mission. --Margaret Flanagan