Mistress of the Art of Death @ richardeward.com

Mistress of the Art of Death
by Ariana Franklin
from Berkley Trade

Features:

• Bargain Price

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• If you feel this way, write an autobiography...
  Should I review this novel or not, I wonder? I didn't read nearly all of it, enjoyed the first few pages, got quickly exasperated, skimmed for a bit, jumped ahead a hundred pages or so at a bound, finally skipped to the end--ah, there's the solution. There seems some utility to chronicling why I wasn't inclined to read the book from cover to cover, though. I've no quarrel with the storytelling or linguistic powers of the author. Far from it. She can write, and from what I could tell, the plot was... more info

• Historical Intrigue With Little Mystery.
  Ariana Franklin (a pseudonymn) starts off her Adelia Aguilar mystery series with "Mistress Of the Art Of Death".
  Taking place in 12th Century Britain, we find ourselves thrust into a dark period of history filled with religious intolerance. Described as "CSI meets the Cantebury Tales", Adleia is the expert medical practitioner specializing in determining cause of death and her expertise is now being used in the case of three children who were crucified to death.
  While being very interesting and... more info

• The title is better than the book
  A book with a title such as this one, about a female doctor from Salerno solving mysteries in Britain during the reign of Henry II, certainly tantalizes the imagination. I didn't think it could fail to entertain.
  And yet it did. The plot, by turns a history lesson and a mysterious reveal, was erratic and short of compelling. Adelia, the doctor/sleuth masquerading as a the doctor's helper, suspects everyone and her internal dialogue cues the reader to plot developments that consistently fall short of... more info

• A really enjoyable book
  I was turned off by some of the comments shown on the back of the book. The idea of a medieval CSI character really doesn't interest me. The Historical Dagger Award was what convinced me to give this book a chance and I am glad for it.
  The characters are likeable and there is a sound plot that will grab on and hold your attention. This read contains the harshness of the medieval period so beware.
  Easy to recommend this book.
  

Similar Products: