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*In the turbulent realm of Norman England, a young man discovers that his identity is the link to an incredible mystery. . . .* Bereft at the loss of his adoptive father, the Sheriff of Lincoln, Hugh Corbaille is unprepared for a further shock from a visiting knight. Hugh may actually be the sole child of the Earl of Wiltshire, mysteriously abducted thirteen years before on the day the nobleman was murdered. With no memory of his early years, Hugh begins to believe he may be the missing heir and sets off to find his past. The journey, however, is far from easy--or safe. Finding himself caught in a web of death and intrigue, and surrounded by a court of scheming strangers, Hugh must turn to the mother he has never known and a supportive young woman to piece together the truth. A cold-blooded killer stands between Hugh and the answers he seeks, answers that may prove his birth--and his death. ** ### Amazon.com Review How much do you know about 12th-century Norman England? After reading Joan Wolf's perfectly balanced blend of research and imagination, you'll know a lot more. This historical mystery allows us to slip under the skin of a period and its people. Wolf, best known for her historical romance novels, chooses the setting of her first mystery with care. Norman England was one of those pivotal periods when the old world and the new both clashed and coexisted, when ancient tales of witchcraft could still freeze the blood of even the most modern-thinking men and women. When 20-year-old Hugh Corbaille loses his beloved adoptive father, the Sheriff of Lincoln, his world becomes dark and saddened. When he is told soon afterward that he may actually be Hugh de Leon, son and heir to the late earl of Wiltshire, his world explodes into a contradiction of doubt and danger--the earl had been murdered on the same day that his young son disappeared 14 years before. Hugh has no memories of his life before his adoption, but a sympathetic woman healer helps him recover pieces from his past--including his presence at Wiltshire's murder. *--Dick Adler* ### From Kirkus Reviews No Dark Place ($22.00; Jun. 3; 294 pp.; 0-06-019238-0): Most medieval mysteries dip into the past, but it's quite a fast-forward from Wolf's sojourn in prehistoric romance (The Reindeer Hunters, 1994, etc.) to the comparatively recent 12th century, when Hugh Corbaille learns that the father he just lost may not be his father after all; Hugh may be the kidnapped heir, and the only witness to the long-ago murder, of the Earl of Wiltshire. -- *Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.*