The Night Wanderer

March 14, 2016
Clare’s entertaining seventh Aelf Fen mystery (after 2015’s Blood of the South) opens in the autumn of 1094 with the discovery of a wealthy merchant with his throat torn out on a river bank near Cambridge, England. There’s nothing that apprentice healer Lassair or anybody can do but pray for the poor man’s soul. As the body count rises, Cambridge is thrown into an uproar, and rumors circulate that a legendary figure called the Night Wanderer has arisen and is stalking the populace. Sheriff Picot claims that a large animal is responsible, but Lassair and her lawman friend, Jack Chevestrier, are determined to prove that all too human hands are doing the killings. Lassair and Chevestrier desperately seek connections among the victims, even as it becomes apparent that Lassair herself may be a target due to her apprenticeship to a local wizard. Skillful pacing and a healthy dose of mysticism add to the appeal—especially for fans of medieval historicals.

March 15, 2016
Cambridge is terrified by a series of inexplicable killings in 1094. The healer Lassair, returned from her East Anglian village to Cambridge to continue her studies with the wizard Gurdyman and delve deeper into the connection she feels with the lawman Jack Chevestrier, is called to the scene of the death of a man whose throat has been ripped out so violently it would appear to be the work of an enormous wild animal. Jack is investigating what will turn out to be a series of similar murders marked by the discovery of first a rat, then a cat, and finally a dog, as if the killer were perfecting his method. As the killings continue, the panicking locals are commanded to stay indoors by the corrupt sheriff, who orders Jack not to investigate further, an order he and Lassair ignore at their peril. Seeking a connection among the murder victims, they learn that each may have possessed a rare item the killer could have been seeking. Convinced he's no mortal man, the townsfolk call the killer the Night Wanderer. Lassair, who has otherworldly abilities she's slowly been developing, sees flashes of clues in the uncanny black stone she has inherited from her grandfather. Working with Jack only intensifies her love for him despite her affection for her lover, Rollo, a Norman who spies for the king and has been overseas for more than a year. As the pair delve deeper into the horrific deaths, they set themselves up for a visit from the Night Wanderer. Once more, Clare (Blood of the South, 2015, etc.) deftly combines a vexing mystery with paranormal activity and earthly romance.

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May 1, 2016

In the autumn of 1094, Cambridge apprentice healer Lassair is called out to view a mutilated body on a riverbank, apparently the victim of a wild animal attack. When a second corpse is found, some believe the demon known as the Night Wanderer has returned to stalk the village. This seventh series entry (after Blood of the South) presents another fascinating look at medieval England.

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