The Difficult Saint [Paperback]

Sharan Newman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2008

Catherine's estranged younger sister, Agnes, has been promised in marriage to a German lord. Bitter about their religious differences, Agnes wants no part of Catherine or their father—except for the sizable dowry that he can provide. When Catherine and her father send Agnes off with her dowry and two knights in escort, they assume that they have seen the last of her.

But soon one of the escorts returns with terrible news: Agnes' new husband appears to have been murdered, and Agnes, the prime suspect, is being held, accused of murder by poisoning, or even worse, witchcraft.

In spite of their differences, Catherine believes in Agnes' innocence, and knows that she must do everything she can to save her sister's life. But when Catherine and her brood travel to Germany to begin sleuthing in a dangerously anti-Semitic climate, it becomes clear that Catherine and her husband's long-dreamt-of life of peace remains in the distant future—if they live to see it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This sixth entry in the Catherine LeVendeur series of medieval mysteries (Cursed in the Blood, etc.) leans more heavily on history than mystery as Newman makes 12th-century Paris, a period of religious and political strife and much intolerance, a rich stage for her cast. Catherine, wife of one-handed Edgar, mother of two small children and daughter of a Jewish merchant, Hubert, is a Christian convert. When her estranged sister, Agnes, unable to accept her father's Jewish origins, contracts a marriage with a German wine grower, Lord Gerhardt of Trier, the family schism threatens to become both wider and more permanent. But Gerhardt's death, under circumstances that strongly implicate his new bride as either murderess or witch, sends Catherine and her family on an arduous trek to Germany to win Agnes's freedom by proving her innocence or another's guilt. The mystery develops slowly, which allows the reader to savor the customs, practices and beliefs that inform the lives of the French, German and English; of nobles, merchants and knights; of Jews, Christians and schismatics. If Newman doesn't deliver a particularly suspenseful plot, she compensates with her command of the period and her ability to translate her knowledge into an absorbing and entertaining narrative. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA-When her estranged sister, Agnes, becomes the main suspect in the murder of her bridegroom, Catherine Le Vendeur and her immediate family journey from their home in France to Germany in hopes of proving Agnes's innocence. Set in 1146, the story highlights the difficulties of traveling long distances, avoiding political unrest, and coping with tremendous differences in languages and cultures. With the help of friends, kin, and many church officials, Catherine begins to piece together the death scenario of her brother-in-law. She clears Agnes's name and the family becomes reconciled. Newman deftly conveys clues in the constant flow of the everyday life of Catherine's medieval society. Details cover clothing, language, travel, crusades, torture, food, drink, laws, and lots of religion, both Christian and Jewish. With several plots intermingling and a constant flow of major crises, the interest stays at a consistently high level. Characters have individual personalities and idiosyncrasies from the beginning and continue to add substance to their identities through interaction with one another and their inner reflections. This title, the sixth in a series featuring Catherine, stands on its own. Teens who like the popular medieval mysteries by Ellis Peters, P. F. Chisholm, or Sharon Kay Penman will find much to appreciate here.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 348 pages
• Publisher: Bella Rosa Books (June 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933523298
• ISBN-13: 978-1933523293
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,554,947 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strong to passive, a strong story and mystery, July 29, 2000

By 

Haley Anne - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Difficult Saint: A Catherine LeVendeur Mystery (Catherine Levendeur Mysteries) (Hardcover)

When I first picked up this series, it was after I had read the Guinevere Trilogy, by the same author, Sharan Newman. My mom had gone to a conference for Mystery Writers and picked up a bunch of her books, including the first installment of her Catherine Levendeur Series. I fell in love with it, and each year my mom returns to the conference she gets me a signed copy of her latest adventure. The character was very headstrong then, but now, in this sixth part of the continuing series, Catherine has taken motherhood, and life in mideval France to a more mature level. It's very enjoyable to see how the characters of Edgar, Catherine, and their children have changed over the years in the stories, but it may not be as strong as in the first few.

In this novel, Catherine, her husband Edgar, and the rest of her family trek the miles to distant Germany to save her younger, estranged sister, Agnes, from an undetermined fate, as she was accused of the murder of her new husband. The conflicts are understandable and believable as we see her struggles to hold a family together in a time and place of racial anger and missunderstanding with the various culture clashes.

Sharan Newman's views and enterpretation of the time peroid are amazing and fantastic to see, but some of the plot becomes rediculous and confusing, as well as Catherine's strange newly-found, docile sense of motherhood. It seems that she is no longer taking on the mysteries of this novel, but leaving it to her husband. I enjoy this series very much. It is a must read! Take it from me, you should pick up this series, but don't be dissapointed if the attitude changes from book to book. The years do go by swiftly, and Catherine is, and always will be a little too headstrong for her family, no matter how any children she has! Try it out for yourself!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Historical Mystery!, February 8, 2000

By 

Ellen M. Levine (Marietta, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Difficult Saint: A Catherine LeVendeur Mystery (Catherine Levendeur Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed the first five Catherine LeVendeur books, and eagerly awaited "The Difficult Saint". I was not disappointed. Once again, Sharan Newman has blended history and mystery with great success. While following Catherine as she seeks to find the murderer of her sister's husband, I was fascinated by the background setting of religious turbulance and intolerance that influences her investigation and provides the reader with insights into the climate of those times. Especially important to me was the development of Catherine's understanding of the people that she loves, as well as her wonderful relationship with her husband Edgar. I loved this book, and eagerly await the next!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Difficult Book to Read., April 10, 2004

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Difficult Saint: A Catherine LeVendeur Mystery (Catherine Levendeur Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I found this a difficult book to read even though it is a solid effort by Sharan Newman. It's more a book about the differences among faiths, Judaism and Christianity, Catholicism and other Christian sects. It was almost appropriate that I read the book during the Easter weekend because it is actually quite a religious effort. In this book Catherine, Edgar, Soloman and Catherine's father Hubert journey to Gernmany to save Catherine's sister Agnes who has been accused of murdering her new husband. She had just been married to him for three weeks when he died suddenly and painfully in their bedchamber. But readers are confronted with the religious unrest that occurred in Europe in 1146. Ms. Newman's research is impeccable and her characterizations and plots are superb, but that does not make her books easy to read. I found this one extremely difficult because we become so intimately acquainted with Catherine's father Hubert and his struggle to continue to deny his Jewishness while trying to keep up his Catholic front in order that he can remain available for his daughter and her young family.