A rare female doctor, trained in Salerno, is recruited to head to England along with two men in order to solve an important crime. Adelia is a mistress of the art of the death; she “reads” bodies in order to find out exactly what happened to them. In short, she does autopsies, and her skills are essential to try and find out who has been taking and killing small children in Cambridge. The Jews have been blamed, of course, despite the fact that they’re obviously innocent, and they have even been killed by townspeople, so they are all holed up in the center of town. Adelia’s job is to find the murderer, without getting murdered herself.
Sometimes being unfamiliar with mysteries is useful, because I just loved this book. I mean, I’m probably going to spend this entire review gushing about it mostly because I can’t help myself. I’ve done what I normally don’t do and read reviews prior to composing my own, and have discovered that quite a few people thought the mystery was too predictable for the book to be interesting. I suppose that some aspects were predictable – the character who commits the murders is always a suspicious character though I didn’t guess which one – but I never read mysteries for the whodunnit aspect. I usually don’t even guess. Taking this solely as historical fiction, I just adored it.
I liked it so much that I didn’t even particularly care that Adelia seemed so anachronistic to me. After all, there were female doctors trained at Salerno (which I knew, but the author kindly clarifies as well) and it’s not outside the realm of imagination that one would develop as independent a spirit as Adelia does, even if it was unlikely. As a modern reader, I thought she was fantastic all around, and I loved the romance that developed and her eventual response to it. I loved even more that it was a romance between two imperfect people who never planned on it happening, but were so drawn in by one another that they simply could not resist.
I also enjoyed all the little medieval details that Franklin sprinkles throughout the narrative. I really felt the atmosphere, which doesn’t always happen when reading historical fiction. I was particularly pleased with her depiction of Henry II, who she describes pretty much precisely as I’d imagined him to be, as a clever man with an unfortunate temper that betrays his intellect. He doesn’t show up often, but when he does he quite steals the show, as I think the king would have done in the Middle Ages.
I can easily say that this is the first medieval novel I’ve read in over a year that I wasn’t ready to pick apart with inaccuracies. The simple truth is that I enjoyed it far too much. Since everyone in the novel was fictional, apart from Henry II, I didn’t have to worry that something was wrong and I didn’t know about it. The case itself was fictional. Even the small details that Franklin includes which didn’t happen she explains in her afterword – including the origin of her idea for the book, a case which genuinely did occur.
I absolutely can’t wait to get to the next book in this series – I’ve already requested it from the library. I loved Mistress of the Art of Death and would recommend it to anyone interested in historical fiction or historical mysteries.
I am an Amazon associate. I purchased this book.
I generally thoroughly enjoy this author’s writing, whether it be in this incarnation or when she is writing as Diana Norman.
I have seen quite a lot mentioned about Adelia being anachronistic, but like you I was too caught up in the book to care too much.
Having said that, I didn’t really enjoy the last book in the series all that much. I am not prepared to give up on the series just yet though.
Marg´s last post …Autobuy music
Wow odd, just yesterday I noticed that this was on one my MP3 players and I was wondering what it was about. Thanks for answering that question. I’m very forgiving with mysteries. I read them for fun and escape.
Beth F´s last post …Spotlight On Kate Ledger
I loved this book as well, and felt much the same way as you did about it, and went right ahead and bought the second book. That one didn’t go as well for me. It was kind of all over the place, and the things that I liked about the first book were missing in the second. It had a lot of components that I felt crowded the plot. I will be very interested in hearing what you think of it. And by the way, I loved this review!
zibilee´s last post …Up from the Blue by Susan Henderson — 336 pgs
OOOO!!! I have this book and then the next one or two in audio. I’m excited to read this!
Literate Housewife´s last post …281 I’d Know You Anywhere
I loved this one too!
Katy´s last post …Review- Loves First Bloom by Delia Parr
I can’t believe you hadn’t read this yet! But, I’m glad you hadn’t and that you liked it, because I’ve had a copy of this on my shelves forever and am happy to have your recommendation!
Jen – Devourer of Books´s last post …Mr Mendoza’s Paintbrush by Luis Alberto Urrea – Book Review
This does sound like a good one and I love that title!
Chris@bookarama´s last post …The Princess Bride Readalong- Milestone 2
Your review was lovely, but reading it made me a little sad. I wish I’d enjoyed this book, but although it has a lot of elements that I love, I just never connected with it.
Nymeth´s last post …The Sunday Salon – Catching Up
For various reasons I have been hesitant about this one. The persecution of Jews in general and particularly the charges of ritual murder levelled against them is one of the least attractive aspects of mediaeval life. I did not realise, though, that most of the characters as well as the case in “Mistress Of The Art Of Death” are entirely fictional. That is a usually recommendation for me because it brings an element of unpredictability that is sometimes missing from historical fiction. Your review at least persuades me to take a second look at the book.
Danielle C.´s last post …Bermuda- The Gentleman Poet by Kathryn Johnson
Wow, that’s very high praise indeed! Your review is great and it makes me want to read the book.
I just received this from a friend through PBS. Glad to see your good review.
Well, you did a very good job of selling this book!
Glad to hear you loved this one! I have it on my list.
Amy´s last post …Teaser Tuesdays
I didn’t realize this book was part of series. I’ll have to put the next book on my TBR pile as well. I didn’t think the plot was too predictable and I did like how the romance aspect between the two main characters was handled.
Janel´s last post …Fifty-one- Super Sad True Love Story – Gary Shteyngart
I am so glad to hear you liked this one! I bought a copy and want to read it before the year is out as part of your medieval challenge.
Stephanie´s last post …Book Review- Dewey’s Nine Lives
This is another one that is on my TBR list. I’ve been intrigued since I first started hearing about it. I haven’t read anything by this author but I’ve heard good things and have both this one and an earlier book of hers (City of Shadows) on my wish lists.
SuziQoregon´s last post …Wordless Wednesday 55
Wow, I’m so glad you enjoyed this one so much! It’s definitely on my TBR list.
S. Krishna´s last post …Book Review- Let’s Take the Long Way Home – Gail Caldwell
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