Alys Clare
Author of Fortune like the Moon
About the Author
Series
Works by Alys Clare
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Harris, Elizabeth
- Other names
- Клер, Элис
- Birthdate
- 1944
- Gender
- female
- Education
- University of Kent (archaeology)
- Occupations
- novelist
author
writer - Short biography
- Alys Clare is the pseudonym of a novelist with some 20 published works to her name. Brought up in the countryside close to where the Hawkenlye Novels are set, she went to school in Tonbridge and later studied archaeology at the University of Kent. She lives for part of the year in Brittany, in a remote cottage deep in an ancient landscape where many past inhabitants have left their mark; on her doorstep are relics that date from the stone circles and dolmens of the Neolithic to the commanderies, chapels and ancient tracks of those infamous warrior monks, the Knights Templar. In England, Alys's study overlooks a stretch of parkland which includes a valley with a little spring. The waters of this spring are similar in colour and taste to Tunbridge Wells's famous Chalybeat Spring, and it was this that prompted Alys's setting of her fictional Hawkenlye Abbey in the very spot where her own house now stands.
- Nationality
- UK
- Places of residence
- Kent, England, UK
Brittany, France - Associated Place (for map)
- UK
Members
Reviews
I go back and forth on Alys Clare's historical mystery series. There are two series I follow: the Dr. Gabriel Taverner series set in James I's England; and the World's End Bureau series is set in Victoria's England during the latter part of her reign. I always enjoy these titles—I certainly never regret reading one of them—but they vary from good reads to very good reads (IMHO). My favorite volume in the Taverner series is The Indigo Ghosts; my favorite in the World's End series is The show more Outcast Girls.
I would place The Man in the Shadows, the third volume in the World's End series, toward the "good" end of the spectrum: a satisfying read, but not threatening to throw The Outcast Girls from my #1 position. The Man in the Shadows offers a pair of mysteries. In London, Yakov, a 13 year-old boy, a Jewish refugee from Russia, has disappeared and is being stalked by a pair of threatening men. His Grandmother, who was hospitalized upon her arrival in England, is desperate to find him. In the countryside, where working-class Londoners regularly travel to participate in the hop harvest, a young woman was murdered and her fiancé hung for her murder. A year later, the fiancé's brother wants the murder reinvestigated and his brother's reputation restored.
The World's End Bureau is owned and run by Lily Raynor. Felix Welbraham is the additional investigator she employs. With two mysteries to solve, Lily remains in London to search for Yakov. Felix travels to the countryside to try to unmask a murderer. The book needs both mysteries. Just one of them wouldn't be enough to carry a novel—and it's fun to watch Lily and Felix working separately. As one would expect, by the novel's end, both mysteries are solved.
My biggest complaint about this title is the portrayal of Felix. From the start of the series, he's been secretly enamored of Lily. In this volume, it seems as if he's becoming enamored every time he crosses paths with an attractive woman. This leaves his attentions feeling less than genuine and raises ethical questions about his professionalism in his investigation.
If, like me, you're a historical mystery junkie, you'll find The Man in the Shadows a satisfactory read, the kind of thing one likes to pick up on an open weekend. I might, however, suggest starting with The Outcast Girls, which is the strongest of these novels and does a much better job of making the Felix character genuine.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. show less
I would place The Man in the Shadows, the third volume in the World's End series, toward the "good" end of the spectrum: a satisfying read, but not threatening to throw The Outcast Girls from my #1 position. The Man in the Shadows offers a pair of mysteries. In London, Yakov, a 13 year-old boy, a Jewish refugee from Russia, has disappeared and is being stalked by a pair of threatening men. His Grandmother, who was hospitalized upon her arrival in England, is desperate to find him. In the countryside, where working-class Londoners regularly travel to participate in the hop harvest, a young woman was murdered and her fiancé hung for her murder. A year later, the fiancé's brother wants the murder reinvestigated and his brother's reputation restored.
The World's End Bureau is owned and run by Lily Raynor. Felix Welbraham is the additional investigator she employs. With two mysteries to solve, Lily remains in London to search for Yakov. Felix travels to the countryside to try to unmask a murderer. The book needs both mysteries. Just one of them wouldn't be enough to carry a novel—and it's fun to watch Lily and Felix working separately. As one would expect, by the novel's end, both mysteries are solved.
My biggest complaint about this title is the portrayal of Felix. From the start of the series, he's been secretly enamored of Lily. In this volume, it seems as if he's becoming enamored every time he crosses paths with an attractive woman. This leaves his attentions feeling less than genuine and raises ethical questions about his professionalism in his investigation.
If, like me, you're a historical mystery junkie, you'll find The Man in the Shadows a satisfactory read, the kind of thing one likes to pick up on an open weekend. I might, however, suggest starting with The Outcast Girls, which is the strongest of these novels and does a much better job of making the Felix character genuine.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. show less
Two worlds, two surprises, and murder!
Two cases taken up by the World’s End Bureau. Lily Raynor takes one—the missing Russian child—a refugee from Russia. Felix Wilbraham the other—looking for evidence that would show a condemned man hung for the murder of his fiancé, was innocent.
The contrast between the Victorian dockside, the pursuit of a child newly arrived from Russia, down dank and dangerous alleys and slipways, along the canal docksides is overpowering and grim. (Clare’s show more descriptions invoke the overlay of despair in these areas). This is where Lily’s investigations take her. By her side is another Russian immigrant and lost youngster—Alexai. At her side, when needed, is Tamáz Edey, master of the canal boat The Dawning of the Day. Tamáz has been a welcome presence in all of Lily’s cases. He understands danger and the supernatural. (He’d gifted Lily a protective amulet in their first encounter). For all its evidence of misery this is also a place where the inhabitants at moments stand together for their own. Evil tracks the child Yakov, relentless and dark. Once again a miasma of the supernatural passes across Lily’s life.
By contrast Felix is in a pastoral delight with blue skies and the rich smell of the earth, even as it is layered with its own sense of brokenness. Felix’s investigations have him making contact with an arm of his family he knows little about. The contrast is great but that will change.
How these two worlds will collide is what has me puzzled. Clare manages that in the most disarming way.
Lily and Felix’s strengths and little details of their lives are emerging. They are growing as characters. A pleasing aspect.
Another brilliant and palpable read from Clare that had me at various times puzzled, often breathless, and always wondering!
A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. show less
Two cases taken up by the World’s End Bureau. Lily Raynor takes one—the missing Russian child—a refugee from Russia. Felix Wilbraham the other—looking for evidence that would show a condemned man hung for the murder of his fiancé, was innocent.
The contrast between the Victorian dockside, the pursuit of a child newly arrived from Russia, down dank and dangerous alleys and slipways, along the canal docksides is overpowering and grim. (Clare’s show more descriptions invoke the overlay of despair in these areas). This is where Lily’s investigations take her. By her side is another Russian immigrant and lost youngster—Alexai. At her side, when needed, is Tamáz Edey, master of the canal boat The Dawning of the Day. Tamáz has been a welcome presence in all of Lily’s cases. He understands danger and the supernatural. (He’d gifted Lily a protective amulet in their first encounter). For all its evidence of misery this is also a place where the inhabitants at moments stand together for their own. Evil tracks the child Yakov, relentless and dark. Once again a miasma of the supernatural passes across Lily’s life.
By contrast Felix is in a pastoral delight with blue skies and the rich smell of the earth, even as it is layered with its own sense of brokenness. Felix’s investigations have him making contact with an arm of his family he knows little about. The contrast is great but that will change.
How these two worlds will collide is what has me puzzled. Clare manages that in the most disarming way.
Lily and Felix’s strengths and little details of their lives are emerging. They are growing as characters. A pleasing aspect.
Another brilliant and palpable read from Clare that had me at various times puzzled, often breathless, and always wondering!
A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. show less
Alys Clare's Gabriel Taverner historical mystery series is one of my go-to choices when I'm wanting some light, entertaining reading. The series has been running long enough that all the characters have well developed back stories, and Clare generally provides context in non-heavy-handed ways, so those new to the series can begin with whatever volume they find first. At this point the stories are set in the Jacobean era, but at moments look back to the reign of Elizabeth I.
These mysteries show more are more about the people engaged in solving them, rather than the complexity of the mystery itself. Clare doesn't include a lot of red herrings. Instead she leaves us to walk along her characters as they sort the puzzle out.
The Cargo from Neira opens with the discovery of the body of a woman, a suicide, along a riverbank in deep, snowy winter. The sheriff's assistant arrives shortly before dawn at Taverner's home, asking the physician to accompany him back to the body. Something odd is going on—and it turns out that he has decided to hide the evidence of the attempted suicide, given the harsh penalties, both economic and religious, for suicides and those they leave behind. Hiding the suicide attempt means that both men put themselves at risk of criminal persecution.
Unexpectedly, the supposedly dead woman is revived and taken to Taverner's home for care, where she is revealed to be pregnant. On the one hand, this may dispel some of the risk involved in concealing the suicide, since it was an attempted, but not successful, act. On the other hand, the woman's pregnancy means that she could be considered guilty of attempted murder, since her unborn child would surely have died if she had succeeded. This dilemma gives the book some interesting weight and ethical questions.
The woman is terrified. Unusual murders begin to occur in the area. And the mystery is somehow connected to nutmeg, a spice being newly imported into England. The price of nutmeg was already high because of its rarity. Now unscrupulous quacks are claiming nutmeg will cure the plague, so the price skyrockets even higher. Of course, nutmeg reaches England via ship, and that leads Taverner to wax nostalgic over his years spent as a ship's surgeon...
That's the set-up. As I've indicated, the plot works more because of the developing relationships among the book's characters than because of a complex whodunnit—but it works. My selfish worry as this novel ended was whether Taverner would return to work as a ship's doctor. For whatever reason, I find shipboard mysteries much less compelling than land-based ones, so I'm worried that upcoming volumes may engage me less, but I trust Clare to keep delivering well developed characters and solid plotting.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the published via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. show less
These mysteries show more are more about the people engaged in solving them, rather than the complexity of the mystery itself. Clare doesn't include a lot of red herrings. Instead she leaves us to walk along her characters as they sort the puzzle out.
The Cargo from Neira opens with the discovery of the body of a woman, a suicide, along a riverbank in deep, snowy winter. The sheriff's assistant arrives shortly before dawn at Taverner's home, asking the physician to accompany him back to the body. Something odd is going on—and it turns out that he has decided to hide the evidence of the attempted suicide, given the harsh penalties, both economic and religious, for suicides and those they leave behind. Hiding the suicide attempt means that both men put themselves at risk of criminal persecution.
Unexpectedly, the supposedly dead woman is revived and taken to Taverner's home for care, where she is revealed to be pregnant. On the one hand, this may dispel some of the risk involved in concealing the suicide, since it was an attempted, but not successful, act. On the other hand, the woman's pregnancy means that she could be considered guilty of attempted murder, since her unborn child would surely have died if she had succeeded. This dilemma gives the book some interesting weight and ethical questions.
The woman is terrified. Unusual murders begin to occur in the area. And the mystery is somehow connected to nutmeg, a spice being newly imported into England. The price of nutmeg was already high because of its rarity. Now unscrupulous quacks are claiming nutmeg will cure the plague, so the price skyrockets even higher. Of course, nutmeg reaches England via ship, and that leads Taverner to wax nostalgic over his years spent as a ship's surgeon...
That's the set-up. As I've indicated, the plot works more because of the developing relationships among the book's characters than because of a complex whodunnit—but it works. My selfish worry as this novel ended was whether Taverner would return to work as a ship's doctor. For whatever reason, I find shipboard mysteries much less compelling than land-based ones, so I'm worried that upcoming volumes may engage me less, but I trust Clare to keep delivering well developed characters and solid plotting.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the published via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. show less
Medieval realism knocks on the door of medieval mysticism
A presence fills the alleys near Gurdyman's house. A vagrant is found dead with a lustrous pearl in his hand propped up against the wall outside Grurdyman's house. Gurdyman is panicked. He knows he's being called back by his past to the places of his childhood and his growth in magico-mystical knowledge.
Lassair is feeling isolated. Jack Chevestrier has sent her away and she finds no place but Gurdyman's. When Gurdyman asks her to show more accompany him to Spain, despite it being near to winter, she agrees. After all healer Lassair is Gurdyman's pupil and as is pointed out, 'it is a part of his duty to ensure that [she] encounter others who are so much further advanced in the arts.’ These words are those of Lassair's aunt, healer Edild. Edild is now married to Hrype, who first introduced Lassair to Gurdyman. Hrype knows what Gurdyman is and what Lassair could be. He also feels that Gurdyman is exposing Lassair to danger.
Along the road to Santiago Lassair and Gurdyman turn off. New fears and experiences become joined. Lassair has become part of what Gurdyman must do. An atonement? Lassair's journey becomes more complex. Lassair and Gurdyman have been pulled into a hidden mystic community and Lassair is being tested.
Meanwhile Jack and Hrype both meet after sensing a malicious presence in Gurdyman's vacant home. They feel the need to follow that presence towards Lassair. Their journey that will involve Lassair's grandfather Thorfinn, an "Icelander whose nickname was the Silver Dragon" who'd given Lassair "a powerful heirloom known as the shining stone."
This is a novel full of unexpected twists and turns. I must admit I'm a tad conflicted. Reading this I felt like I'd wandered into a lookalike set of Shrangrila, although located in medieval times in the Pyrenees, where esotericism is practiced in a secret valley hidden beneath and beyond the mountains.
I am also unsure of how I feel about the ending?... Lassair obviously must follow her path, even if (as I think), Gurdyman has been somewhat duplicitous in everything. Is Lassair cautious enough? She hasn't been that before. And what of Jack? How will things eventually resolve? We are left with the thought that Jack might be more than he appears. That his solidness is meaningful in some way. For a brief moment there seems to be some sort of positive, even hopeful tension between him and Lassair.
Some of the community Lassair encounters seem to think that some deaths are expendable in the big picture. I do wonder if the healer in Lassair will come into conflict with this viewpoint.
Change and growth are a pivotal point for Lassair. How she gets there is dangerous and challenging.
I must say I'm glad I read the previous novel in the series as there might've been gaps that would've annoyed me otherwise. I am also anxious to see where Clare is leading us.
A Severn House ARC via NetGalley show less
A presence fills the alleys near Gurdyman's house. A vagrant is found dead with a lustrous pearl in his hand propped up against the wall outside Grurdyman's house. Gurdyman is panicked. He knows he's being called back by his past to the places of his childhood and his growth in magico-mystical knowledge.
Lassair is feeling isolated. Jack Chevestrier has sent her away and she finds no place but Gurdyman's. When Gurdyman asks her to show more accompany him to Spain, despite it being near to winter, she agrees. After all healer Lassair is Gurdyman's pupil and as is pointed out, 'it is a part of his duty to ensure that [she] encounter others who are so much further advanced in the arts.’ These words are those of Lassair's aunt, healer Edild. Edild is now married to Hrype, who first introduced Lassair to Gurdyman. Hrype knows what Gurdyman is and what Lassair could be. He also feels that Gurdyman is exposing Lassair to danger.
Along the road to Santiago Lassair and Gurdyman turn off. New fears and experiences become joined. Lassair has become part of what Gurdyman must do. An atonement? Lassair's journey becomes more complex. Lassair and Gurdyman have been pulled into a hidden mystic community and Lassair is being tested.
Meanwhile Jack and Hrype both meet after sensing a malicious presence in Gurdyman's vacant home. They feel the need to follow that presence towards Lassair. Their journey that will involve Lassair's grandfather Thorfinn, an "Icelander whose nickname was the Silver Dragon" who'd given Lassair "a powerful heirloom known as the shining stone."
This is a novel full of unexpected twists and turns. I must admit I'm a tad conflicted. Reading this I felt like I'd wandered into a lookalike set of Shrangrila, although located in medieval times in the Pyrenees, where esotericism is practiced in a secret valley hidden beneath and beyond the mountains.
I am also unsure of how I feel about the ending?... Lassair obviously must follow her path, even if (as I think), Gurdyman has been somewhat duplicitous in everything. Is Lassair cautious enough? She hasn't been that before. And what of Jack? How will things eventually resolve? We are left with the thought that Jack might be more than he appears. That his solidness is meaningful in some way. For a brief moment there seems to be some sort of positive, even hopeful tension between him and Lassair.
Some of the community Lassair encounters seem to think that some deaths are expendable in the big picture. I do wonder if the healer in Lassair will come into conflict with this viewpoint.
Change and growth are a pivotal point for Lassair. How she gets there is dangerous and challenging.
I must say I'm glad I read the previous novel in the series as there might've been gaps that would've annoyed me otherwise. I am also anxious to see where Clare is leading us.
A Severn House ARC via NetGalley show less
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- 54
- Members
- 2,578
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- #9,966
- Rating
- 3.5
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- 114
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