Bøker av Alys Clare

Private investigators Lily Raynor and Felix Wilbraham have to hunt down an escapee from a French asylum, in this new, gripping World's End Bureau Victorian mystery from critically-acclaimed author Alys Clare. London, April 1882. When cool-headed Phyllida visits the World's End Investigation Bureau to offer a curious case concerning her fianc�, proprietor Lily Raynor is intrigued - and privately excited. For accepting the case means taking an unexpected trip abroad, to France. Phyllida's fianc�, Wilberforce, is currently in an asylum in Brittany, after a tragic incident which resulted in the death of his father. Did he kill him on purpose - or was it an accident? Wilberforce's innocence looks increasingly in doubt when another murder happens at the asylum - and the evidence points to Wilberforce being the culprit. Phyllida fears for Wilberforce's wellbeing, but she can't marry a murderer! With the engagement hanging in the balance, Phyllida wants to know the truth before it's too late. Lily and her assistant, Felix Wilbraham, journey to rural France to uncover the truth, but the case takes an unexpected turn when they discover that the accused man has escaped the asylum and is nowhere to be found. Soon the intrepid investigators are in over their heads with much greater and unexpected powers at play . . .

1199. Abbess Helewise has been summoned by Queen Eleanor to discuss building a chapel at Hawkenlye Abbey. Meanwhile, Sir Josse dAcquin is trailing a group of knights rumoured to be devil worshippers. As Helewise heads home, Josse follows his quarry to Chartres, where he meets the last person he expects: Joanna and she has grave problems of her own.

1604. Gabriel Taverner is surprised to receive an urgent summons from his old naval captain, who believes his ship is haunted by an evil spirit. Dismissive of the crew's talk of blue-skinned ghosts, Gabriel is convinced there must be a rational explanation behind the mass hallucinations. But matters take a disturbing turn when a body is discovered.

Early one morning, as Lassair leaves her Fenland village on a personal mission she discovers the body of a young woman. As Lassair wonders who killed the girl and why, she swiftly becomes mystified and frightened. Why did a sweet seamstress have to die? Suspicion soon creeps close to home; then another body is found. . .

Winter, 1211. Former abbess Helewise moves back to her cell near Hawkenlye Abbey, putting a strain on her relationship with Sir Josse D'Acquin, who is called to examine the bodies of three men, one of whom bears a complicated symbol carved into his chest.

A grove of huge oak trees in the Wealden forest is felled. And, as if some ancient curse is being brought alive, the man who wielded the axes meets with a violent end.The Sheriff claims the Forest People did it, but Abbess Helewise believes a supernatural solution is too easy an answer. She consults Josse d'Acquin, whose manor house in the Weald is now being renovated, and he, concerned about the safety of two girls from the abbey, enters the forest himself - to find something in this ancient part of Britain that terrifies even him.

It is February 1194. A desperately ill man is making for Hawkenlye Abbey in the hope of a miracle cure. In his delirium he sees the Virgin Mary and, sinking to his knees, he begins to pray. She is the last person he will ever see. The winter cold intensifies and the Vale lake freezes over. It is only when the thaw sets in that a corpse is discovered in the icy waters, its skull crushed by a lethal blow. With no clues on the body but an apothecary's remedy, Abbess Helewise asks her trusted friend Sir Josse d'Acquin to find out the man's identity. As Josse sets out on his mission, a party of sick people arrive seeking help, and their sickness looks terrifyingly like plague . . .

Shortly before his unexpected coronation, King Richard passed a law letting all of England's prisoners go free. Shortly afterwards a young nun is found, gruesomely murdered. Richard swiftly employs an old military colleague of his, Josse d'Acquin, to unravel this hideous mystery. Who could have wanted to kill this innocent young novice, and, more worryingly, why?Josse goes to Hawkenlye Abbey to find out the answers to these questions. He is having little success until meets the Abbess Helewise, a woman who quickly proves herself to be his equal, both as an amateur sleuth, and as a figure the community can rely on during this turbulent time for England.This duo have to find the murderer, and find him quickly, or they'll have the King of England to answer to...