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Book Reviewed by:Ariana Franklin combines the best of modern forensic thrillers with the drama of historical fiction in her second novel in the Mistress of the Art of Death series, featuring medieval heroine Adelia Aguilar.
Ariana Franklin combines the best of modern forensic
thrillers with the drama of historical fiction in the enthralling second novel
in the Mistress of the Art of Death series, featuring medieval heroine
Adelia Aguilar.
Rosamund Clifford, the mistress of King Henry II, has died an agonizing death by
poison - and the king's estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, is the prime
suspect. Henry suspects that Rosamund's murder is probably the first move in
Eleanor's long-simmering plot to overthrow him. If Eleanor is guilty, the result
could be civil war. The king must once again summon Adelia Aguilar, mistress of
the art of death, to uncover the truth.
Adelia is not happy to be called out of retirement. She has been living
contentedly in the countryside, caring for her infant daughter, Allie. But
Henry's summons cannot be ignored, and Adelia must again join forces with the
king's trusted fixer, Rowley Picot, the Bishop of St. Albans, who is also her
baby's father.
Adelia and Rowley travel to the murdered courtesan's home, in a tower within a
walled labyrinth - a strange and sinister place from the outside, but far more
so on the inside, where a bizarre and gruesome discovery awaits them. But
Adelia's investigation is cut short by the appearance of Rosamund's rival: Queen
Eleanor. Adelia, Rowley, and the other members of her small party are taken
captive by Eleanor's henchmen and held in the nunnery of Godstow, where Eleanor
is holed up for the winter with her band of mercenaries, awaiting the right
moment to launch their rebellion.
Isolated and trapped inside the nunnery by the snow and cold, Adelia and Rowley
watch as dead bodies begin piling up. Adelia knows that there may be more than
one killer at work, and she must unveil their true identities before England is
once again plunged into civil war . . .
PROLOGUE
The two men's voices carried down the tunnels with reverberations that made
them indistinguishable but, even so, gave the impression of a business meeting.
Which it was. In a way.
An assassin was receiving orders from his client, who was, the assassin thought,
making it unnecessarily difficult for himself, as such clients did.
It was always the same; they wanted to conceal their identities, and turned up
so masked or muffled you could hardly hear their instructions. They didn't want
to be seen with you, which led to assignations on blasted heaths or places like
this stinking cellar. They were nervous about handing over the down payment in
case you stabbed them and then ran off with it.
If they only realized it, a respectable assassin like himself had to be
trustworthy; his career depended on it. It had taken time, but Sicarius (the
Latin pseudonym he'd chosen for himself ) was becoming known for excellence.
Whether it was translated from the Latin ...
The events of this novel involve historical personages including Henry Plantagenet, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry's mistress Rosamund Clifford, and others. Adelia is an independent, courageous, and mentally forceful woman, and her insertion into this tapestry of the Middle Ages at times seems a bit of a stretch. Some will quibble that Franklin's writing and dialogue slip as often into modern phrasings as into a quaint East Anglican brogue. The sentence structures can be difficult to follow, and the writing tone doesn't always align with the 12th-century setting of the novel. However, these things being said, The Serpent's Tale is a fun and engaging fiction set in an interesting and tumultuous period of English history that has received much less literary attention than the overdone Tudor period. Visiting this unfamiliar era, and then following research trails afterward, rewarded me with many new facts and background histories. This book should appeal to those who enjoy strong female characters, medically-based crime solving, or British mysteries and intrigues...continued
Full Review
(571 words)
(Reviewed by Kathy Pierson).
Henry II
(1133-1189), the first Plantagenet* king, was born and brought up in France but lived
to rule England for 35 years. His name will always be tied obliquely to the
murder of Archbishop Thomas à Becket at Canterbury Cathedral in 1170, even
though he's often lauded as one of the most effective of all England's
monarchs. In The Serpent's Tale, Adelia is annoyed by the memory of
Becket's murder, which made "a martyred saint out of a brave but stupid and
blinkered man" at the expense of a king who wanted to "allow greater justice to
his people with laws more fair, and more humane than any in the world." She
maintained, "Henry Plantagenet's ferocious blue eyes saw further into the future
than any other man's."
The...
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