My hankering to get back to Hildegard of Meaux was amply rewarded in The Red Velvet Turnshoe. Cassandra Clark pens exemplary descriptions that swept me to the England of 1383 with all its history, starkness, finery, and social structures. Hildegard's abilities to think on her feet are sternly tested during a long pilgrimage to Italy but her critical thinking skills are as agile as ever. Her patience, foresight, and diplomacy see her through another tenuous murder investigation. The opulence of Florence against the simple and, at times, austere lifestyle of Hildegard and her fellow nuns provided a brilliant contrast. As a reader who loves factual history woven into fiction, the historical events around which part of the story revolved richly added to the 14th century atmosphere. I'm certainly invested in many of the main characters, both ally and foe, and will doubtless soon continue to #3 in this series.