Mistress of the Art of Death

by Ariana Franklin | Mystery & Thrillers |
ISBN: 0143141880 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wing6of8wing of Silver Spring, Maryland USA on 8/14/2016
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3 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wing6of8wing from Silver Spring, Maryland USA on Sunday, August 14, 2016
A book that I recently acquired for the purposes of giving it away.

I took this along as an audiobook on my day trip to Roanoke and back. All told, the audiobook was about 15 hours and my trip was only 10, so I finished it off yesterday on my day off (I intended to do housework while I listened, but I was mostly too spellbound to accomplish much). I think I am glad I had this as an ear-read, because there were a lot of dialects and accents involved in the various characters and that is often easier to listen to than to read. I don't engage in a lot of ear-reading so I am not an expert on who is a good reader of audiobooks the way some of my friends are, but I do think this woman was quite wonderful.

The story is intense, to say the least, dealing with a 12th century serial killer of children in the incredibly superstitious world of Henry II's England. Adelia is sent as the equivalent of a medical examiner to determine if the murder of Peter of Trumpington was committed by Jews, the scourge of the Medeival Church. Cambridge's Jews have been sheltering in the castle for a year after they were blamed and two of them killed for the boys death. Even though 3 more children have gone missing during that time (and show up dead when Adelia arrives), the Jews are still blamed because they are soulless devils that fly and do black magic. Adelia, as a doctor and a woman and the foster child of a Jew, is in a precarious position trying to investigate the goings on, especially with her companions Simon of Naples (another Jew) and Mansur (a Saracen). The historical setting is palpable and well-fleshed out, the discussion of medical and physical evidence of the time is graphic and explicit and bloody, and the characters are well-drawn and realistic. The entire story is well-done, and the mystery is handled well but within the proper historical setting. When I reached the point at which the killer was revealed and apprehended, where a modern mystery would be nearing the end, there was still an entire disc left. I couldn't imagine what else was left to address, but I quickly learned that the conclusion was not as easy because it needed to be historically accurate.

I came out of this book wanting to read the others in the series, wanting to learn more about Henry II and his time, and wanting to visit Salerno, where there was an ancient medical school that let women study. I also had to shake my head at how little people have changed -- the evils of the crimes in this book are still a part of society, and, what is worse, the prejudice and superstition against the "others" in society is still as strong today as it was in the 12th Century, as the current US presidential election is showing us. Sad.

All in all, I recommend the book highly, but with a caution that there is strong language and gruesome depictions of crimes against children.

Journal Entry 2 by wing6of8wing at Silver Spring, Maryland USA on Sunday, August 14, 2016

Released 7 yrs ago (8/14/2016 UTC) at Silver Spring, Maryland USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book is going to meet-up with me and hopefully going home with someone else.

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Journal Entry 3 by wingMelydiawing at Centreville, Virginia USA on Sunday, August 14, 2016
6of8 said this sounded like the sort of thing I might like, so she passed it along to me. Thanks!

Journal Entry 4 by wingMelydiawing at Centreville, Virginia USA on Saturday, December 17, 2016
Adelia is the 12th century equivalent of a coroner who is called it to figure out who is killing children in Cambridge. The village is in an uproar, with the local Jewish population quarantined in the castle because the rest of the villagers believe they are guilty (even though more children have been killed since they've been there). A female doctor is anathema to social standards, so Adelia spends a lot of time sneaking around in order to do her work. I learned a lot of things that I now want to know more about: Henry II, Salerno, and 12th century Europe in general. I'll have to pick up the other books in this series at some point.

Journal Entry 5 by wingMelydiawing at Toosso Pakistani Kitchen in Rockville, Maryland USA on Sunday, January 29, 2017

Released 7 yrs ago (1/29/2017 UTC) at Toosso Pakistani Kitchen in Rockville, Maryland USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Bringing to the BCinDC meetup.
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Journal Entry 6 by wingKateKintailwing at Burke, Virginia USA on Sunday, January 21, 2018
Picked this up at a past BCinDC meetup and just found it in a bag of books I haven't yet journaled! Looking forward to reading this.

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