The Dragon of Handale: A Mystery (Abbess Hildegard of Meaux)

As King Richard attempts to gather supporters throughout the kingdom, assassins pursue his courier, leading to a most gruesome murder—and the interruption of a much-needed message.

Meanwhile, Hildegard of York, a former nun of the Cistercian order, has returned from her pilgrimage unsure of her future in the church’s service. She is advised to visit the Priory of Handale, where she discovers a cruel prioress who inflicts harsh punishment upon the sinning nuns, the murder a young apprentice out in the woods, a frightening story about a roaming dragon, and a suspicious tower guarded by armed men in the middle of the forest: “The atmosphere was enough to crush the spirit of anyone with a spark of life in her—and if not crush her, send her mad.”

In The Dragon of Handale, Cassandra Clark creates a mystifying setting filled with medieval crimes and entangled politics, along with a string of macabre transgressions, perfectly matching the detailed periodic aspects of the story’s surroundings: There are cold, dark deeds happening deep within the secluded and shadowy woods of Handale in winter. In such an isolated place, with such peculiar people, can Hildegard muster the courage to seek out the truth behind these mysterious occurrences?