A Death in the Venetian Quarter: A Medieval Mystery (Fools' Guild Mysteries)
2 journalers for this copy...
I got this fair-condition ex-library hardcover from Better World Books. I've been enjoying the series, which starts with Thirteenth Night, and wanted to read them all!
This one opens with jester Feste, and his wife Viola in Constantinople, along with the three other members of the city's Fool's Guild, preparing to honor Viola's graduation from apprentice fool to jester. But this happy occasion takes place in the shadow of impending war; the latest Crusade has sailed from Venice - to attack Constantinople instead of the infidels. There's strife in the city's Venetian Quarter - and a silk merchant found dead under odd circumstances; is the latter connected to these greater matters?
Our heroes are tasked to investigate, with pressure from the city's ruler and from their own guild - and with enemies on every hand. So... they juggle, they quip, they make snarky remarks, and they do their best to get themselves into the good graces of the emperor and his wife.
The story is told from the viewpoints of Feste and of Viola - who, when she first gets her own chapter, notes "And about time, too"! Their relationship is truly delightful, not least because Feste respects her talents enough to treat her as an equal partner in the many dangerous things they have to do. Their banter is great fun - as is nearly all the dialogue among the fools.
The plotting - well, this *is* the Byzantine empire, so it's... suitably Byzantine {wry grin}. The historical detail seems very accurate, to the degree that facts are known, with the author's enhancements to personalities seeming to fit in well with what's known of the historical originals. Events are often dark - this is an emperor who had his predecessor, his brother, blinded and kept in a dungeon, after all - and as war looms larger and the body count rises, I feared for our protagonists...
Plots involving dynastic marriages, rapid changes of succession, finding ways to prevent full-scale war - and keeping their face-paint intact and their motley bright... the fools of Constantinople have their work cut out for them!
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series.]
This one opens with jester Feste, and his wife Viola in Constantinople, along with the three other members of the city's Fool's Guild, preparing to honor Viola's graduation from apprentice fool to jester. But this happy occasion takes place in the shadow of impending war; the latest Crusade has sailed from Venice - to attack Constantinople instead of the infidels. There's strife in the city's Venetian Quarter - and a silk merchant found dead under odd circumstances; is the latter connected to these greater matters?
Our heroes are tasked to investigate, with pressure from the city's ruler and from their own guild - and with enemies on every hand. So... they juggle, they quip, they make snarky remarks, and they do their best to get themselves into the good graces of the emperor and his wife.
The story is told from the viewpoints of Feste and of Viola - who, when she first gets her own chapter, notes "And about time, too"! Their relationship is truly delightful, not least because Feste respects her talents enough to treat her as an equal partner in the many dangerous things they have to do. Their banter is great fun - as is nearly all the dialogue among the fools.
The plotting - well, this *is* the Byzantine empire, so it's... suitably Byzantine {wry grin}. The historical detail seems very accurate, to the degree that facts are known, with the author's enhancements to personalities seeming to fit in well with what's known of the historical originals. Events are often dark - this is an emperor who had his predecessor, his brother, blinded and kept in a dungeon, after all - and as war looms larger and the body count rises, I feared for our protagonists...
Plots involving dynastic marriages, rapid changes of succession, finding ways to prevent full-scale war - and keeping their face-paint intact and their motley bright... the fools of Constantinople have their work cut out for them!
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series.]
I took this to the BookCrossing meetup in Brookline today. Enjoy!
[See other recent releases in MA here.]
*** Released for the 2017 Oh, the Places We Can Go release challenge. ***
[See other recent releases in MA here.]
*** Released for the 2017 Oh, the Places We Can Go release challenge. ***
Picked this up at the Saturday meetup. Looks like fun! Setting aside in my to be read pile.
