Mistress of the Art of Death

One of the smartest books I’ve ever read portraying a woman in a “man’s job” in medieval England. Adelia is trained in Italy as a ‘Mistress of the Art of Death,’ a precursor to today’s medical examiner.

She’s brilliant and brave, and she engages in repartee with Sir Rowley—King Henry II’s tax collector and love interest—that has me turning the pages eager for their next encounter. This is a smart, funny, well-researched thriller that I return to every few years to reread. 

Set in medieval Cambridge, England, the story follows the horrific murder of four children which is blamed on the town’s Jewish community.

Unraveling the mystery and unmasking the serial killer falls an Italian doctor, Adelia. Being a woman in those superstitious times, she has to conceal her identity as a coroner and of Jewish background for fear of being accused of witchcraft. The novel is a chilling, forensic thriller with fascinating characters and even a little romance.

This book, introducing a female sleuth in Medieval England, grabbed me from the beginning.

Who would believe King Henry II would hire a female forensics expert trained in Salerno, Italy to come to the backwater town of Cambridge in 1171 to conduct an investigation? But this author makes it believable with deft characterizations and a colorful cast of characters.

Adelia’s search into the deaths of Cambridge’s Jewish population leads to high-placed secrets and danger amid the lively doings of the population. This and the other four in the series offer a rich tapestry of a fascinating time. I recommend them… show more.

Who doesn’t love a medieval murder mystery? Someone has been murdering children near Cambridge. Everyone blames the local Jews. King Henry II wants answers.

I enjoyed the diverse characters—the local prior, some rabble-rousing townspeople, a tax collector, a handful of knights, the prioress of a nunnery, and a woman from the fens. One is the killer.

Enter Adelia Aguilar, a Sicilian doctor sent to help Henry II unravel the mystery. But she puts herself and her companions in death’s way in the process. What I loved best was Adelia’s methods—she uses evidence and clues in a rather unconventional way. In… show more.