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Mistress of the Art of Death

historical fiction by Ariana Franklin

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Don't bother me, I'm in the "Good Book" zone...

Jul 9, 2010

by Emmalee
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Rating:

Having opted to be a stay-at-home mom a couple of years ago, my budget means I'm a big library-borrower these days, rather than a book-buyer. That said, Ariana Franklin's books are on my shelves - they're just too enjoyable to pass up.

Mistress of the Art of Death is the first in a series, and after I got lost in the story during the day or two it took to consume the first book, I get excited every time I hear a new title has been released.

Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar is like a medieval Amelia Peabody - tart, smart, and independent. In an age when women were viewed as property to be married off for money, name, and housekeeping skills - certainly not educated, as were wealthy men - Adelia is a trained physician.

But her specialty is forensic science, and it's a calling she pursues singlemindedly, never stopping to dally with come-hither clothing or feminine wiles. For everyone out there complaining that Stephenie Meyer's Bella Swan undermines feminist values (and I assume those readers aren't in much danger of being lured into codependency by a vampire story) Adelia Aguilar is the determined antidote.

Of course, Adelia has to pretend she's not really a doctor, "translating" her medical instructions through her Middle Eastern companion Mansur...lest the less-enlightened English burn her at the stake as a witch.

Adelia is lovable and wry, and the book is laden with humor. But of course, a good love story always helps, and there's great chemistry with Adelia's love interest, which is punctuated by stubbornness and witty repartee that makes the tenderness all the more touching. It's reminiscent of Peabody and Emerson in Elizabeth Peters' original Crocodile on the Sandbank (although Franklin has managed to better sustain that chemistry throughout her series so far).

This book is well worth the space on the nightstand, and get out your reading light, because you may not want to put it down.

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Bethany_K July 09, 2010

What a fantasic review! It's extremely well written and makes this book sound very enticing. Thanks for sharing!:)

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review by zibilee. January 19, 2011

Mistress of the Art of Death

Dr. Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar has just been dispatched from Salerno to Cambridge in an effort to help catch a killer. This particular killer chooses children as his victims, and as the story begins, he has had his savage and bloodthirsty way with four of them. As the murdered children are all Christians, suspicion begins to fall on the Jews of Cambridge, much to the chagrin of King Henry, who wishes to see them absolved. Adelia finds herself in a strange predicament after … more

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Quick Tip by barkerville7. June 10, 2010

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

A Quick Tip by barkerville7

Very inventive premise combined with a solid mystery. A female physician from relatively enlightened Sicily forced to deal with the ignorant prejudices of Angevin England.

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review by luan_gaines. February 20, 2009

"I am not here to pray for them... I speak for them."

In 1171, Cambridge is beset by a series of brutal child murders, so inflaming the citizens that they turn on the local Jews as scapegoats, reinforcing the common belief that these baby killers routinely sacrifice Christian children to their God. Such medieval prejudices are common, the uneducated villagers quick to gather into a hysterical mob screaming for the blood of the guilty with no proof other than the hearsay of so-called witnesses, whose stories are further embellished in the telling. Literally … more

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