40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
PLEASE tell me she's working on another one..., April 11, 2010
This review is from: A Murderous Procession (Mistress of the Art of Death) (Hardcover)
Usually, I find that sequels start falling to pieces after the third - a good story base can support a trilogy, but in my opinion, after that things start falling apart.
I'm pleased to say that's NOT the case with A Murderous Procession - I enjoyed it nearly as much as the first book in the series, Mistress of the Art of Death, more than The Serpent's Tale (#2), and at least as much as Grave Goods (#3).
That's not to say there were no weak spots:
1. The editing was spotty in places - nothing huge, but several cases of punctuation gone awry and one or two sentences that seemed to be forgotten about mid-edit. It's something that I suspect most readers won't even notice, but it was a bit of a distraction for me.
2. Based on other sources, I am inclined to disagree with Franklin's characterization of Eleanor of Aquitaine as being "far from Henry's intellectual equal." I believe that, given a society in which women were considered equals, instead of being thought slightly better than talking beasts, there would never have been a doubt that Eleanor was Henry's intellectual equal... at LEAST. Her lamp, so to speak, was hidden under the bushel of the times, when an intelligent, powerful, outspoken woman was an abomination. Considering how much she accomplished and impacted the cultures *even* with those constraints, IMO there can be no doubt that the woman was any man's match. Further, though she might very well have embellished a tale or played upon someone's credulity to impress a potential ally (or suppress a potential enemy), nothing I have ever read about Eleanor indicates that she would be the kind of person to give in to self-delusion, or be credulous herself. That was my biggest gripe with The Serpent's Tale, that Eleanor was portrayed as weak-minded, gullible, easily convinced of her own hype (= out of touch with reality) - it was less strong in this book, but still irksome.
3. I was distracted by the number of potential Bad Guys and the overt, almost lazy way they were presented. One of the best parts of Mistress of the Art of Death (#1) was that there was so little known about the villain, it left everyone open to suspicion. In this one, there were, if I recall correctly, four people that you suspected right off, as soon as they were introduced. I found myself less engaged with the mystery, because it no longer seemed so much a "mystery," and more like a "process of elimination." I spotted the villain as soon as he was introduced (although I admit I wavered a bit in places) though I hoped that I would be COMPLETELY wrong - that it would turn out to be none of the people we were so obviously meant to suspect.
4. I was left unconvinced by one (new) character's romantic interest in another - the new character was well-realized and I hope to see more of that character in the future, but I couldn't quite believe the infatuation. I have never been entirely sold on Adelia and Rowley's volatile relationship either, for that matter - there are times it really comes through, but there are lots and lots of times when I wonder why they bother, when there is so comparably little tenderness, concern, or gentle affection shown between them - Adelia has many moments of "Bless him," but seldom expresses it except in bed; Rowley expresses his affection by getting angry, overruling Adelia's concerns because "he knows best" and "wants to keep her safe," then saying things like "Now, take off your clothes." Not the kind of partner I'd want.
Their relationship (and its rocky bits) gained a bit more depth and nuance for me when Adelia's parents are introduced, and we see that they have a bickering, sort of rough-edged relationship too - but with Adelia's parents, I was able to truly see the love, respect, concern, and tenderness in even their most caustic exchanges. With Adelia and Rowley, it's much less evident (to me) when they're actually together. They seem doomed to pine after each other when they're separated, only to fly into a disagreement within ten seconds of being in the same room and then spend days giving each other the cold shoulder.
Until the end.
5. I have to admit, I turn the next page, breathless, and yelled, "WHAT?! She [Franklin] CAN'T do this! She CAN'T - how does - did he - are - WHAT?!?!?!"
I hope with all I have that she is working on another book, and I hope that Adelia and Rowley are able to extricate themselves from the tangled mess that Rowley's role in the church has made of their relationship. I swear, I'm going to lose sleep until I find out how that all is resolved.
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43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"No true asylum here from the rich, omnipotent enemy that surrounded them.", April 1, 2010
This review is from: A Murderous Procession (Mistress of the Art of Death) (Hardcover)
Perhaps seven years in the service of Henry II have weakened the resolve of Adelia Aguilar, Mistress of the Art of Death and graduate of the Palermo School of Medicine. When she was first sent to England to aid Henry in solving a number of troubling murders, the fiery physician was uncompromising and headstrong, only restricted by the necessity of subterfuge, willing to use her friend Mansur, a Moor, as the putative doctor who speaks only Arabic while Adelia serves as translator. Over the years, this constant falsity proves grinding, Adelia longing to return to her homeland. But in the interim she has fallen in love, given birth to a daughter and turned away from Sir Rowley Picot, who becomes an archbishop at Henry's behest. Now Adelia remains in England at the king's pleasure, still in love with Rowley and forced to entertain yet another charade in order to spend time with the man she loves.
When Henry offers Adelia a chance to travel to Palermo, escorting his young daughter Joanna to a marriage with King William II of Sicily, Adelia is overjoyed- until Henry announces that he intends to keep Adelia's daughter as surety of her return. The wily Henry has no intention of losing his forensic expert, a woman adept at physical examination and unraveling the specific cause of death long before scientific inquiry is practiced at crime scenes. Now the journey is bittersweet, with little Allie left behind in the care of Queen Eleanor. But Franklin, with her precise attention to period detail, has prepared the usual smorgasbord of danger, thrills, threats and murders along the way, including the return of Scarry, an evil man with murder in his heart who travels incognito with Joanna's entourage. When every suspicious death points somehow to Adelia, Scarry is behind it, planning an elaborate revenge for the murder of his lover at Adelia's hands.
Arthur's famous sword, Excalibur, is hidden with the travelers, to be delivered to William of Sicily, inciting the curiosity of those who recognize the value of possessing such a powerful cultural icon. It doesn't help that the normally perceptive and astute Adelia is distracted during the journey, ignoring Rowley's warnings of grave danger, giving into increasingly petulant behavior at her own risk. For the first time, Adelia displays the foolish actions of her female contemporaries, denying her intuition, putting everyone in danger. But Franklin is a skillful writer who manipulates plot and characters as adeptly as Adelia performs forensic examinations, the sub-plots building to a climax that results in a cliffhanger and scant hope for a successful resolution. From the crafty assassin to an Irish sea captain who falls in love with the woman who loves another, this novel is filled with the vibrancy of the era, the ignorance and superstition of witch-burners and the encroaching fingers of the Catholic Church with its dreaded penchant for inquisition. Luan Gaines/2010.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great read, bad Kindle formatting, June 14, 2010
This was a solid entry in the Mistress of the Art of Death series and I enjoyed reading it. I would have to say it is my least favorite of the series so far, but it is still a very good read. The central mystery wasn't as captivating and well-crafted as in earlier installment; however I enjoyed the overall effort very much. Ariana Franklin brings her characters and their world to life. The book ended on a pretty big cliffhanger, which is annoying. Leaving a few loose threads to pick up in the next book is one thing, but this was a flat-out full-stop cliffhanger. I can't be more specific without being spoiler-y.
For a major release from a giant publishing house this was a terribly formatted Kindle book. How much time would it have taken to have ONE person read through it and fix the errors? Mainly small things, but pervasive. Nearly every single page featured missing periods at the ends of sentences. There were numerous scanning errors (I assume) that replaced n for h or c for e, that kind of thing. Are major publishing houses really using OCR to scan in major new releases like this? Whatever the reason, it's a big pet peeve to be pulled out of the story every few sentences to think, "What? Oh, there's a missing period, that's new sentence." I don't make a huge deal about price. Either I feel it's worth it and purchase or feel it's too high and read something else. BUT, if publishers want to charge so much for an ebook, please take the time to proof-read the blasted thing.
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