Arturo Pérez-Reverte Purity of Blood

Purity of Blood

Arturo P rez-Reverte

Putnam, Jan 2006, $23.95, 288 pp.

ISBN: 0399153209

In 1623 Madrid Chief Constable Martin Saldana arrives at the crime scene of a strangled woman sitting in a sedan chair in front of the church; she holds a pouch containing fifty escudos and a handwritten note stating: "For masses for her soul". He confides to his friend Captain Diego Alatriste that he is unable to resolve who murdered the woman and what motive caused the homicide.

Don Francisco de Quevedo asks Alatriste to help him before the soldier returns to his hometown of Breda, Flanders where hostilities have once again broken out. Francisco's daughter Elvira is being held at La Adoracian, a convent that is a harem for the dangerous Father Juan Coroado. The duenna who brought Elvira and two other novices there simply vanished. Adding to Francisco's fears is that he and his daughter are not "not of pure blood", which makes them fodder for the Inquisition fire. Alatriste accepts the assignment as he is not one to idly stand for the abuse of power, but soon connects Coroado's concubine center to the plaza homicide with both linked to the Inquisition.

The sequel to the wonderful seventh century sword-buckling CAPTAIN ALATRISTE, is a terrific action-packed tale that starts off with the plaza homicide and never slows down until the final confrontation. Besides the heroic escapades of the lead protagonist, who has some set backs during his rescue attempts, readers obtain an in depth look at Inquisition Spain, but the historical tidbits are cleverly interwoven into the fabric of the adventures. Once again Arturo P rez-Reverte provides a fabsulous fast-paced thriller starring a wonderful super soldier who delays his entry to the war flaring up back home to risk his life trying to rescue a damsel in distress.

Harriet Klausner