Marilyn's Mystery Reads

Book Author: Ariana Franklin

Serendipitous.  That’s the only word that comes to mind to describe how I came upon this novel, published in 2007, that I am certain I had never seen before.

I had gone into our family room to chose a particular book I had in mind; when I reached for it, Mistress of the Art of Death came out with it.  I have no memory of ever purchasing this book before it tumbled out of the bookshelf, but somehow it was in my hand.  The author, as well as this book, was unfamiliar to me, but as long as I had it I decided to start reading to see what it was about.

In 1171, a group of English pilgrims is returning from Canterbury, where they prayed at the site of the martyred St. Thomas à Becket, and three visitors from Italy are among them:  Mansur, an Arabian Saracen; Simon of Naples, a Jew; and Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar, a foundling raised by a Jewish physician father and his wife.

The trio has been sent to England, Cambridge in particular, to look into the death of one boy and the abduction of three other children.  The townspeople, led by Roger of Acton, are blaming this on the Jews of Cambridge and demanding their expulsion from the town.  King Henry II (of “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?” fame) doesn’t want “his Jews” to depart, since he depends on their taxes and financial acumen to augment his coffers.

Thus he asks the king of Italy to send “a person versed in the causes of death,” and that is how Adelia comes to Britain.  She, like her adoptive father, is a physician trained in Salerno and knowledgeable in finding the reasons for death.  However, since there are no female doctors in England, Adelia must present herself as the assistant to Simon, who is pretending to be a doctor.

The Jews of Cambridge have been secured for a year in an old castle belonging to Henry, and thus they are unable to work and contribute to his treasury.  In addition, their danger increases daily as it’s now Easter, always a fraught time for the Jews as the calumny of their being responsible for Christ’s crucifixion is always as its height at this time of year.

Adelia, not one to suffer fools gladly, is displeased by having to hide her expertise and skills, but, as the English say, “needs must.”  She has to be careful to pretend to be no more than an assistant to Simon or else the trio may be expelled from England or worse, be imprisoned like the town’s Jews.  With the help of Glytha, a townswoman acting as their housekeeper, and Ulf, her grandson, Adelia must discover who has taken the kidnapped children and why.

Mistress of the Art of Death is a brilliant mystery.  The characters are realistic, the plot mesmerizing, and the time period, between the Second and Third Crusades, is fascinating.  Ms. Franklin has done a masterful job in bringing a time period nearly one thousand years in the past to vivid life.

You can read more about the author at various sites on the web.