City of Pearl

In Clare’s eerie ninth Aelf Fen medieval mystery (after 2018’s The Rufus Spy), English healer Lassair, drained and depressed by recent personal losses, agrees to accompany her mentor, Gurdyman, on a sudden journey from Cambridge to faraway Spain, even though the elderly healer and magician won’t tell her why they’re going. Soon it becomes clear that the wise and formidable Gurdyman is deeply afraid, which is no surprise since the impetus of the journey was his finding a dead man in his doorway with a pearl in his hands. The tension builds as a malevolent presence haunts the pair’s arduous journey to the City of Pearl. Alarmed by Lassair’s departure, the Cambridge lawman Jack Chevestrier tries to pick up her trail, which also increases the stakes and deepens the emotional narrative, since Lassair and the burly Jack have unfinished business. The lack of a murder case to solve may disappoint some, but those who enjoy mystical thrillers set in medieval Europe will be well rewarded. (Dec.)