In 1066, William the Bastard, a Norman from France, defeated the English army at the Battle of Hastings. Within twenty years, all rebellion had been ruthlessly crushed, but English hatred still simmered. Now, in 1141, the Empress Matilda and King Stephen contend for the crown, and violence and corruption continually erupt in the uneasy and vulnerable land.
Dame Averilla, Infirmaress of the Benedictine abbey at Shaftesbury, is sorely troubled: King Alfred’s Laece Book, a precious collection of herbal and medicinal lore, has gone missing. So has the eccentric Dame Agnes—presumed by many to be possessed. Dame Averilla suspects a connection between the losses and the town’s wise woman, Galiena, rumored to be a witch. But efforts to find the herbal and the missing woman are hampered not only by Dame Joan, the discipline-obsessed sub-prioress, but by an ongoing power struggle between the nuns of Anglo-Saxon heritage and the daughters of the new Norman elite.
Evoking all the fascinating color and customs of medieval England, this twelfth-century detective story will delight mystery and history fans alike.
Available from Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Partners/West
Published by Lost Coast Press
ISBN 1-882897-64-1 · Paperback · 304 Pages · 6 X 9
Graven Images
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Graven Images
The Averillan Chronicles, Book II
Barbara Reichmuth Geisler
It is the year 1141, and the nuns of the Benedictine Abbey at Shaftesbury face new tribulations. The abbey is near bankrupt, threatening the completion of a much-needed altarpiece for St. Edward's chapel. Worse, the tranquility of the daily round of prayer and ritual is disrupted by the murder of Saviette, a maiden of the town. Suspicion falls on Master Levitas, who is a Jew and thus a ready target for the intolerant townsfolk. Convinced that Levitas could not have committed the crime, Master Hugo, brought to Shaftesbury to sculpt the altarpiece, befriends the old man. Dame Averilla, now the abbey sacrist, abhors the prejudice as well, and suspects that Jared, son of the abbey's reeve, is responsible for Saviette’s death. Averilla, Hugo, and Abbess Emma must shelter the falsely accused Levitas while they discover the truth, lest chaos topple the rule of law.
Barbara Geisler's first novel,Other Gods: Book I of the Averillan Chronicles, won an award for Best First Novel, 2004 from the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (BAIPA) and was a Ben Franklin Award Finalist, for Best New Voice in Fiction.
“This medieval mystery incorporates speech patterns, historical details of daily living, and beautiful descriptions of landscape and environment. Geisler does a highly credible job of recreating the sense of fear, despair, and loss of order that characterized this age, the reverse side of the faith that sustained it.”
— The Midwest Book Review
Available from Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Partners/West
Published by Lost Coast Press
ISBN 1-882897-84-6 · Paperback · 432 Pages · 6 X 9
