The Falconer’s Knot

A Story of Friars, Flirtation and Foul Play
by Mary Hoffman

Umbria, Italy, in the year one thousand, three hundred, sixteen.

Silvano is young, handsome, rich, and in love—unfortunately Angelica, the woman he loves, is already married.

Chiara is young, pretty, and lively, but of no use to her brother because he cannot pay a large enough dowry.

When Silvano is wrongly accused of murdering Angelica’s husband, he seeks refuge at Giardinetto, a friary neighbored by a nunnery.

Chiara, too, travels to Giardinetto because a convent is a convenient place for a woman of no great fortune to spend her life.

Neither one is happy about being confined.
Their stories are separate until Silvano reaches the abbey and each, espying the other, is aware of the new novice who doesn’t quite fit the picture of a religious person. The two meet when helping their superiors deliver colors to the famous painter, Simone Martini, and through chance meetings, their friendship grows. Chiara, now called Sister Orsola, thinks her life in the nunnery will be boring, and Silvano believes he will stay a short while until he is proved innocent, but everything changes when a guest of the friary is stabbed in his sleep. Could Silvano be the murderer after all? Or might it be Silvano’s mentor, Brother Anselmo, who acted strangely just before the crime was committed? When more bloodshed occurs even before the first crime is solved, Giardinetto is no longer a place of tranquility and fellowship. It is up to Silvano and Chiara to solve the mystery before more deaths take place. Will they succeed?

The Falconer’s Knot is another riveting tale of Italy by Mary Hoffman—author of the highly praised Stravaganza series—that fills readers with both suspense and anticipation of a happy outcome.