Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in James I's England, Clare's impressive sequel to 2017's A Rustle of Silk reveals the darkness beneath the seemingly bright and buoyant West Country village of Tavy St. Luke's. Gabriel Taverner, a former ship's doctor who lives with his young widowed sister in Tavy St. Luke's, is called by his friend Theophilus Davey, the vigilant coroner, to examine the corpse of an unidentified man found in a desolate hut. The man looks emaciated and impoverished, but as Taverner seeks the cause of death, he hears reports of a number of seemingly unconnected strange events taking place around the village: an intruder at a manor, a parish priest stricken with grief mid-sermon, the discovery of treasure by children in a hostile farmer's glen. The story keeps readers guessing and increasingly invested in the core group of finely nuanced characters, until it builds to a gruesome murder that uncovers the terrible secrets certain people have been desperate to hide. The mystery satisfies with a tragic, far-reaching conclusion. Clare reinforces her place among the top rank of historical writers. Agent: Laura Longrigg, MBA (U.K.).(Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A physician and a coroner must make do with rudimentary crime-solving tools in 1604 England.Dr. Gabriel Taverner and his clever sister, Celia, have set up housekeeping together after an accident ended his career in the Navy and a murder changed her circumstances (A Rustle of Silk, 2017). They're both worried about their friend Jonathan Carew, the vicar of St. Luke's, after they notice a few moments of blankness on his face during his Sunday sermon. But Carew denies any problems, and Gabriel's energies are redirected when coroner Theophilus Davey asks him to examine a body found in a shack. The young man with fleshy lumps that might be leprosy apparently died of natural causes. The only clue found on the body is a partial sketch on fine paper of a beautiful face. Soon the dead man is tied to a burglary attempt at Wrenbeare, the large but neglected home of the Fairlight family, who deny that there was an intruder. Lady Clemence Fairlight is the widow of Sir Thomas, with whom she had two daughters who also live at Wrenbeare along with the older one's husband. At length Carew asks Gabriel to help him uncover five stunning stained glass panels that were at one time in the windows of St. Luke's Little Chapel. During the days of Henry VIII, vast numbers of religious houses and artifacts were destroyed, and even now there is still some danger in displaying the windows. A sixth panel of a later date is a powerful image of a naked man worshiping a stunningly handsome naked angel. The horrible death of Lady Fairlight brings the varied problems together, forcing Gabriel and Theo to dig in the present and the past to uncover a shocking story.Plenty of historical detail and a twisty story make the second in Clare's new series a step up from the first. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Clare's books are captivating, unusual, and magical, and her latest, set in seventeenth-century England and featuring physician Gabriel Taverner, is no exception. When Gabe is called to a remote hut where a dead body has been found, he can barely tell the sex of the victim because the corpse is so badly emaciated and ravaged. He declares death by natural causes, but he's worried by the odd swellings on the victim's face, hoping they don't indicate leprosy. He's then temporarily distracted when the local minister, Jonathan Carew, begins acting oddly. Gabe eventually discovers that Jonathan has unearthed some beautiful glass panels that were taken from his church and buried during the reign of Henry VIII. One panel, intricate and utterly entrancing, stands out from the rest. It's only by chance that Gabe discovers a link between the dead body in the hut and the glass panels, and once he does, he wishes he hadn't, because the story that links the two is so brutally tragic that even Gabe, a doctor who's seen just about everything, is devastated. Wonderfully authentic period details, larger-than-life characters, a thought-provoking plot, and an affecting and powerful conclusion make this one of Clare's best.--Emily Melton Copyright 2018 Booklist
