Hawkenlye Books In Order

Publication Order of Hawkenlye Mysteries Books

Hawkenlye Mysteries is a series of murder novels set in late 1100 during the reign of Richard the Lionheart. The events mainly take place in England and sometimes extending to France and to even more distance places. Moreover, each novel deals with Hawkenlye Abbey, a mixed community of monks and nun serving under the rule of Abbess Helewise.

Alys Clare is the nom de plume used by Elizabeth Harris, a writer of historical novels mainly set during the medieval periods. The Hawkenlye Mystery series features the wannabe detectives Abbess of Hawkenlye and Josse d’Acquin published by Severn House and Hodder & Stoughton.

The series consists of over 15 books, Fortune like the Moon is the debut novel published in 1999, and the second book on the show Ashes of the Elements was released a year later. A Shadowed Evil and The Devils Cup are the latest novels in the series published in 2015 and 2017 respectively.

Fortune Like the Moon

Fortune Like the Moon is the first book in Hawkenlye Mystery series, and it is during the scorching summer of 1189 when King Richard is about to take over the throne. A young newcomer nun body is found proximal to the Hawkenlye Abbey. The crime seems to be the work of recently released convicts. The soon to be king thus sends out one of his soldiers the wannabe detective Josse d’Acquin to investigate. With the assistance of Abbess Helewise, the two investigators soon find something more complicated than it ought to be. In this first novel, the two king knights will soon unravel a web of greed, lust, and anger that is slowly drawing to the Abbey.

With the help of his assistant Abbess Helewise, Josse manages to filter out an array of the possible suspects, and among their precious evidence is gold rubied cross. However finding the shocking truth behind the death of the nun is far much a more dangerous ordeal.

Ashes of the Elements

In the second books of Hawkenlye Mystery series, the Abbess Helewise takes another strange case with her native French partner Josse d’Acquin. A lumberjack working in Wealken forest is found brutally murdered. The local’s residents blame this heinous crime on the mythical forest people. However, when Abbess Helewise is called in to investigate the matter, she suspects a foul play and does not believe that the supernatural factors could be the cause of the death.

Like in the previous novel, Abbess Consults with the French knight Josse d’Acquin whose investigative skills have helped many of the residents. The knight is concerned about the safety of Abbess he ventures into the so acclaimed “supernatural forest” only to find the shock of his life. Now it is upon the two to reconcile the mythical misconception with their better understanding.

Once again, the bestselling author, Alys Clare does a good job in delivering a compelling story with deceptive appearances, as the non-Christian and Christian religious belief systems fueling the conflicts that arise.

The author provides good content clearly written, the novel features interesting characters and detailed historical facts and accounts that altogether develops an excellent plot. The female lead character, the Abbess, serving under the patronage of Queen Eleanor does a great job for the residents of Abbey. She is kind and wise and takes care of the nun and the people in her area of jurisdiction. Also, the French knight, Josse, now a landowner helps Abbess in her investigative work.

The Chatter of the Maidens

The state of peace in Hawkenlye Abbey is disturbed by the arrival of a new nun accompanied by her two sisters. The three are orphaned and their eldest sister, the nun left her convent in Ely so as to take her younger sisters away from the place that reminds them of their parents. Abbess Helewise does not believe that Alba is telling the truth since she appears to be mean spirited. When Josse, Abbess closest friend is brought to Abbey on the verge of death, allegedly caused by blood poisoning, nun Alba anxieties increases.

After several days, a body is discovered, and one of the sisters is reported missing. To get the pure truth of Alba intentions and why she chose Hawkenlye as her destination, Abbess Sets off on an investigative journey to Ely where she uncovers a network of lies that Alba has been hiding all along.

The Winter King

It is the autumn of the year 1211, and the wealthy barons and lords in Tonbridge are plotting on how to overthrow the king of England, King John. Some of these people are even more than willing to use the skills of an old woman capable of seeing visions to stir up resentment against the king more so with Pope Innocent.

While in a trance, Lila talks about King John being the winter king. On the other hand, Benedict de Vitre, one of the servants of the king has been corrupt in the collection of taxes for King John thus accumulating wealth.

However, when de Vitre is found dead during his feast, many of the residents claim that he had died due to his love of food and suspected no one could have been involved. In addition to this, he had been warned by the doctors that his heart would not survive more of his love for food.

However, not everyone thinks that the greed for food was the reason behind de Vitre death. The wife of Tonbridge sheriff, Sabin de Gifford, the local town healer suspects foul play. However, to establish the real cause of Benedict de Vitre, she will have to get the help of someone with more knowledge to help understand what might have happened and this time its Meggie the only daughter of the French knight Sir Josse d’Acquin.

Hawkenlye mystery series is a great novel that showcases the authors pro writing skills at developing such intense situations for her well-crafted characters and also making the readers do their investigation and figure out what would happen next. The author does not reveal too much, and this maintains the excitement of the reader throughout the novels.