Mistress of the Art of Death

December 4, 2006
Had Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael been born a few decades later, he might have found a worthy associate and friend in Dr. Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar of Salerno, a short and short-tempered medieval coroner hired in secret by King Henry II to find out who's behind the horrific murders of Christian children in Cambridge, England. Prominent local Jews stand accused; Henry wants them freed, mostly for the sake of their tax revenue. As Adelia examines the children's bodies and gets to know the people of Cambridge, she has no trouble assembling a long list of suspects, but she encounters considerable difficulty trying to narrow it down, a struggle in which the reader gladly joins her. Not all of the plot twists are surprising and the romantic subplot is an unnecessary afterthought, but Franklin (City of Shadows
) has developed a skillful blend of historical fact and gruesome fiction that's more than sufficient to keep readers interested and entertained.

November 15, 2006
It is 1171 in Cambridge, England, and Henry II is beside himself. Four children have been found murdered and mutilated, and the townsfolk of Cambridge are blaming the Jews, who have taken shelter in the castle. King Henry is less concerned about the murderer than the tax revenue he is losing while the Jewish community languishes in the fortress. He appeals to the king of Sicily to send him a master of the art of deathone who can look at the deceased and determine how he or she died. Adelia, a "mistress" of this art, arrives with a group of returning pilgrims. Along with a eunuch escort named Mansur and Simon of Naples, a Jew with an affinity for detection, she must piece together the mystery of these hideous crimes before the monster kills again. In her second historical novel (after "City of Shadows"), Franklin (the pen name of British writer Diana Norman) presents a fascinating character in Adelia, who is odd for her era and profession yet familiar in her flaws and complexity. This novel will surely please mystery fans as well as lovers of historical fiction. Recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 10/1/06.]Anna M. Nelson, Collier Cty. P.L., Naples, FL

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2006
In the twelfth century, the Salerno School of Medicine (in the Norman Kingdom of Sicily) boasted female students among its ranks. When Adelia, one of the university's prodigies, is summoned to considerably less-progressive Cambridge, England, to provide forensic support in the investigation of the murder of four children, she must conceal her identity lest she be labeled a witch. Still, her predicament is far less perilous than that of the Jewish residents of Cambridge, whom the Catholic townspeople have blamed for the quartet of deaths. King Henry II, while ruthless, is no fool; mindful of the tax revenues derived from Jewish merchants, he's vowed his protection until they can be exonerated. Adelia, whose entourage includes a Jewish investigator and a Muslim bodyguard, carefully analyzes the corpses. Her conclusions, alas, are far from definitive: the crimes could be the work of a serial killer, or perhaps one among the latest group of pilgrims who've recently returned from Canterbury. Though her narrative is somewhat uneven, Franklin (" City of Shadows," 2006) delivers rich period detail and a bloody good ending reflecting the savagery of the times.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)