Customer Reviews

The Devil's Door: A Catherine LeVendeur Mystery

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4 star:		(4)
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2 star:		(1)
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As a student of Medieval History and an avid reader of bothmystery novels and historical novels this book was right up my alley. Newman's characters are lively and the plot moves quickly and logically, though not necessarily predictably. I have read two books in this series and am eager to read the rest of them. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a light mystery read with an historical setting. I have read this book twice myself. END

This is the 2nd in the Catherine LeVendeur series, and is every bit as enjoyable as the first. Edgar and Catherine are a great sleuthing pair, and the 12th century detail is fascinating. I also appreciate Newman's character development; even minor characters are well-developed and interesting.

Reading Ms. Newman's books reveals her love for the era that she writes in. She is very familiar with the 12th century, and her books are very well researched. I like Catherine and Edgar, although they do get a bit silly at times, but I'm sure they will mature nicely. They do manage to get in some pretty odious situations, as well as dangerous ones. In this book Catherine and Edgar are pulled into a family secret that results in three deaths and a lot of unhappiness. Both of them face danger, but manage to triumph, partly because of their love for each other. A good historical read!

The story in this historical novel takes place during the time period leading up to the final confrontation between Bernard of Clairvaux and Peter Abelard at the council of Sens. (The novel says this occurred 1140 A.D.; Wikipedia says 1141 A.D.) This historical setting is peripheral to the fictional murder-mystery story, and is not an important part of the story. However, it places it firmly into a particular time in history. One of the things I appreciate most about Sharan Newman is her concern with accurately portraying the life and times surrounding the fictional plot.

The actual plot itself is quite contrived, but what murder mystery isn't contrived? The plot of this book contains a legal hearing (a trial) near its end that is worthy of a Perry Mason TV show with emotional outbursts from almost everybody present. There's even a missing human head in the story that appears near the end in a very public way. The story includes a primer on medieval smelting of iron. The main character gets married in this story so there's ample discussion of their frustrated honeymoon. There are plenty of hints toward the end that she may be pregnant, and at the very end we learn the truth.

One interesting aspect of the ten part Catherine LeVendeur series of novels is to try and figure out the thinking behind the selection of the book's title. The titles are always intriguing, but their application to the story tends to be obscure. This book is the second one in the series. I think anyone who enjoys the Brother Cadfael novels by Ellis Peters would also enjoy these novels as well.

A fun murder mystery set in a time of history I knew little about. A great diversion.

I can't really judge if this is an accurate medieval setting, although it is a very vivid one. The problem here is the plot. At the end of the book, I am left completely baffled by the motives of the main actors. I won't discuss it in any detail, since I don't want to spoil the plot, but they must have been relatively stupid since they could have accomplished their purposes in a simple and straightforward way that would have avoided a lot of grief. A friend of mine would roll her eyes at this point and tell me that their motive is simple: if they behaved sensibly, there wouldn't be a plot. Silly me.