Review: The Night of the Wolf by Cassandra Clark

Synopsis: The ruthless reign of Henry IV and the clerical tyranny of Archbishop Arundel keep Brother Chandler and his friends under constant threat in this gripping medieval mystery featuring friar-sleuth Rodric Chandler.

Chester, 1400. Riding for his life, with a copy of Chaucer's heretical Canterbury Tales in his possession, friar-sleuth Brother Chandler is ambushed on the road and wakes up in a stranger's house.

Is his 'rescuer', wool merchant John Willoughby, friend . . . or foe? Willoughby declares that he, like Chandler, has renounced the self-crowned King Henry IV and will help Chandler get his dangerous belongings to safety. He seems trustworthy, but Chandler knows that if he's caught by the King's merciless censors together with the Tales, he'll be burned at the stake.

But then Willoughby's young wife perishes in a terrible accident at their house - or so it seems . . . Willoughby asks Chandler to help investigate if it was indeed an accident or if someone had a hidden agenda.

All Chandler wants to do is find safe haven for Chaucer's Tales and return to London, but he accepts the case. Little does he know that it will lead to secrets being uncovered which will put not only Chandler but also those around him in unimaginable peril.

~ ~ ~

"The Night of the Wolf" follows on directly from the two preceding Brother Chandler books. Richard II is dead; Henry IV is king; Chaucer is missing presumed dead; Chandler is a wanted man, in possession of Chaucer's only works.

For those that are interested, Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" (which were unfinished at the time of his death) were considered to be controversial at the time as they criticized the clergy and called attention to all the hypocrisy, thievery, abuse of power, lying, and self-enrichment characteristic of the clergy. His ties with the Lollards lead to his books being considered heretical.

Clark really does give the reader a sense of how things were at the start of the reign of Henry IV: the claims of Richard II's supporters that he still lived, threats from the Welsh under Owain Glyn Dwr, crisis after crisis following his seizure of the throne, burning of heretics, fear and paranoia. 

However, there is no real inkling that the actual background to this story-line is based upon the mysterious disappearance of Chaucer! The story instead focuses on the secondary mystery of the murder of a merchant's wife. For me, this is not up to the standard of the first two - it dragged on a bit, and the side narratives of the "Mattie" character were surplus to stock - again!  Unfortunately for me there is too much hithering and dithering.  We constantly moving back and forth between London and Chester for this secondary investigation, which for Chandler, being such a wanted man in possession of a precious cargo, is surely the last thing he should be doing. 

Look, I will interested to see how the next in the series pans out, but I am not breaking down doors to do so.