Ariana Franklin, Mistress of the Art of Death

Mistress of the Art of Death

Ariana Franklin

Putnam, February 2007, $25.95, 336 pp.

ISBN: 0399154140

In 1171 England, the Jews were given a haven under King Henry's rule, not because he liked them, but because they paid one seventh of the monies in the royal treasury. In the town of Cambridge, four children have disappeared, and the body of only one has been found. A rumor begins that Jews killed the child. In retaliation, a mob went on a killing spree, bodily tearing apart two Jews, while the survivors take sanctuary in Cambridge Castle.

In Sicily, the king, at the request of Henry II, sends three people (Simon a Jew, Mansur a Muslim and the doctor of the dead Adelia Agutar) to England to find the killer. When they arrive the dead bodies of the three children are waiting for their analysis. Adelia knows that all the victims were killed by the same murderer. Adelia, who misses her native Salerno, finds a place for herself in England, and during the course of her investigation she teams up with tax collector Sir Rowley to find the murderer, but not before he kills someone dear to her who was closing in on him.

Cross the forensic science of a Kay Scarpetta novel with the historical background of Judith Tarr book and the reader will have some idea of what the MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH is all about. Adelia is a great character. A female pioneer allowed to practice in the one country advanced enough to grant females that privilege. She is a plain speaker who seeks justice for the dead, and has no tolerance for prejudice of any kind. She has more freedom than the average female in the Middle Ages, and she knows how to use it to do what she wants. Readers will admire her and look forward to the next mystery starring this intrepid heroine.