Mistress of the Art of Death -- Ariana Franklin

England, 1170.  After the Catholics of Cambridge turn into a riotous mob because they believe that the Jews are to blame for the particularly horrific murder of a child, Henry II finds himself in a bit of a bind.  As all of the Cambridge Jews are now living in Cambridge castle (for protection), he's losing much needed tax revenue.  Also, it's clear that they are innocent.

So he contacts the King of Sicily, and asks for a "master of the art of death".

And the King of Sicily complies.  Sort of.  He sends Simon, an investigatory genius -- who happens to be Jewish; Mansur, a Saracen castrato; and Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar, a Mistress of the Art of Death.

Of course, in England, publicly admitting to being a female doctor is an impossibility.  So the three companions set up shop in Cambridge, with Mansur standing in as the doctor and Adelia as his translator and assistant.  And the investigation begins.

Well, I'm in love.  After finishing this one, I pulled Ye Olde Babble at the library.  Patrons had to listen to me yap on at length about how much I loved it and about how now I was all curious about Henry II and about the medical school at Salerno and about how if the library didn't get Ariana Franklin's other books, I was JUST. GOING. TO. DIE*.

The writing was lovely and evoked especially vivid images in my mind (though not always pretty ones), and it brought me to another time and place.  Adelia's status and perspective as an outsider in England allowed for plenty of musing on the culture of the time -- she noticed and thought about things that a Cambridge native probably would have taken for granted, and that, I think, added to the richness of the description and world building.  I cared about the characters very much, and found that even most of the secondary characters became real to me, the plotting surprised me again and again, and for me, best of all, I was really, really emotionally invested -- there was one specific section that had me deliriously happy until Something Bad Happened.  And I said, "Oh."  (Out loud, though I was alone in the house).  And then I had to put the book down, get up, drink a glass of water and compose myself.  Only then could I dive back in.

So thanks so much to Elizabeth and Arlene for the recommendation.  Good lord.  I totally owe the two of you a whoopie pie** or something.

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*The director ordered them.  Possibly just to shut me up, but I'm not going to complain.  Because A) I'm not big on complaining and B) gift horses.

**In college, I discovered that there are many people who don't know what whoopie pies are.  Which is just wrong.  And sad.

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Book source:  My local library.

Comments

[Elizabeth]

I always thought butter tarts were the Maine confection of choice (possibly confusing Castine and Grand Manan, here) but The Wikipedia tells me they're Canadian. So bring on the whoopie pies!

[ICQB]

I spotted Grave Goods at my library and read it. I was hooked. When I left for a two week vacation in Europe, I took with me Mistress of the Art of Death and A Serpent's Tale. When I finished the Mistress book, I left it behind on the shelf of a little guest library in an old rectory which is now a B&B in a small, medieval town in England. I loved all three books, although the subject matter of Mistress was a little icky. My favorite was Grave Goods.

[Nadine]

Wow, all of these books sounds awesome. Placing a hold at my library now...

[Angie]

Sold. And my library has it! Thanks for an enticing review.

[Els Kushner]

Aha! My library has it too, and I'm going on vacation next week! Yippee and thanks!

[Dawn]

I've looked at this book several times, but never could decide whether it was worth reading. Thanks for your review!

[Kate F.]

Requested! Half the time I barely get through two paragraphs of your posts before skipping over to request the book, then coming back to finish reading.

You're in Maine, right? We were driving along Route 2 this weekend and discovered BROWNIE WHOOPIE PIES at a deli/convenience store and my lands, they were to die for.

[Citizen Reader]

I've got to read this book. I've had it checked out from the library twice--I love the cover and the title--and never got it read. Blast! Another book for the already scary TBR pile!!

[starr]

Yes! This was a good book (the 2 sequels are good, but not as good as the first, imo). I also really liked her stand alone novel, "City of Shadows."

[theduckthief]

Where I'm from we call those Wagon wheels and yes, butter tarts are Canadian as are Nanaimo bars. Yum!

Henry II's always been an interest of mine but I think that's mainly because of "The Lion in Winter".

[Marg]

I really enjoy this seriees! And I have never had a whoopie pie! I live in the wrong country apparently!

[Lorin]

Oh, I loved this book. The 2nd isn't as good but is worth reading, IMO. Haven't checked out #3 yet.

[geekmom]

Thanks for this - I just finished the book and it was wonderful. A little predictable as far as mysteries go but I was so hooked I didn't care. I almost squealed with delight when I saw there were sequels and now I'm just waiting for the library to open so I can go get them.

[Leila]

geekmom: It's funny, usually I'm all over figuring the mystery out first (not even actively -- it's like the back part of my brain is working on it as I read) -- but with this one, I didn't know whodunnit until it was revealed, and I just didn't care! I think it's because I was so in love and involved with the characters.

Looking back, I probably should have known, though.