The Lark's Lament
A Fools' Guild Mystery
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
In 1204 A.D., the Fools' Guild is in hiding, under attack from the forces of Pope Innocent III. Theophilos and Claudia, jesters with the Guild, are sent to enlist the help of a former guild member - the minstrel Folquet, now the abbot Folq at a Cistercian monastery - to intercede with the pope on their behalf. But while they are at the abbey pleading their case, a gruesome murder takes place - a monk is killed in the librarium and a cryptic message written on the wall in his blood.
In the wake of the murder, Folq issues an ultimatum to Theophilos. If he learns the meaning of the message and finds the killer, Folq will help the Guild. But if the Jester fails, Folq will have the pope declare the Guild anathema. With the future of the Guild on the line, Theophilos, his wife, and their apprentice go off in search of Folquet's past and the meaning of the message, uncovering a long-ago series of events that were as deadly then as they are proving to be now.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the start of Gordon's winning sixth medieval mystery (after 2004's An Antic Disposition), series hero Theo and his wife, Claudia, both members of the Fool's Guild, visit Cistercian Abbot Folc previously a troubadour known as Folquet to solicit his help preserving the guild from enemies in the church. But that night, someone murders one of Folc's monks and leaves a threatening message for the abbot next to the body. When Folc demands that Theo find the man responsible, Theo and Claudia's quest takes them deep into the recesses of domestic and religious life in 13th-century France. At the center of the mystery lies a haunting song, which implores "Sweet Lady Lark, why will you not fly?" To discover who's threatening Folc, Theo and Claudia must identify the Lark. While Gordon makes confusing and distracting shifts in first-person point-of-view between Theo and Claudia, the husband-and-wife jesters are charming, the story behind the murder unpredictable yet entirely believable.
