The Serpent's Tale @ richardeward.com

The Serpent's Tale
by Ariana Franklin
from Putnam Adult

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• Mystery
  I really liked this book, as your not sure where its going, and its unusual for a woman in those times to be doing this kind of work. Loved it Easy to read

• entertaining, but lacks the impact of the first in the series
  Mistress of the Art of Death deserved a solid 5 stars for the first 80-90% of the book, at which point it ran out of steam, so to speak--the ending faltered. Serpent's Tale starts off in a promising fashion, but almost imperceptibly, the pace begins to slow--it's as if the author felt a need to stretch things out. There are times when you think back about the last ten or twenty pages and ask "Did this really get us anywhere?" There are also some plot elements which, when you reach the end of the book, are... more info

• Dr. Adelia Invesigates Again
  This is the successor to Franklin's successful "Mistress of the Art of Death" and is also set in the England of King Henry II, that seminal (literally and figuratively) ruler, something over a year after the murderous events of the first book. The heroine, Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar, physician/pathologist trained at the great medieval medical school of Salerno, is still kept in England by the order of Henry II. The king was impressed with her work in solving the previous murders and was equally... more info

• "What family doesn't have it's ups and downs?"
  Mayhaps this isn't as "tight" as Mistress of the Art of Death but it is still a very good story, well told.
  I will admit to being rather repulsed by at least one of the scenes towards the end of the book and cannot help but wonder if it was necessary. Additionally, I am a bit uncomfortable with the portryal of Eleanor and Beckett but it is a challenging romp of a story. If you are at all interested in Plantagenet England and a gooooood mystery? This is your book.

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