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| Mistress of the Art of Death | 
 enlarge | Author: Ariana Franklin
Publisher: Bantam Books Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy Used: £0.66
You Save: £7.33 (92%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 16770
Media: Paperback
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0553818007
EAN: 9780553818000
ASIN: 0553818007
Publication Date: May 6, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Abandon all hope of historical accuracy...and you might enjoy it November 17, 2008
On the one hand I enjoyed this novel very much. Ariana Franklin is a consummate story teller and her characters and the setting in which they act and react are wonderfully realised. You can actually believe you are there with them in the world she has built. There are some delightfully realised secondary personages. I was particularly fond of eelwife Gytha and her cheeky urchin son, Ulf. Henry II is spot on and I really warmed to Ariana Franklin's version of this fiercely intelligent king with his mingling of imperious authority and mischievous common touch - Bravo! It's a page turner, no doubt about it and for all the above reasons I would be glad to give it five stars.
However.... Abandon all hope of historical veracity ye who enter here. There are the usual detail errors that irk me because I know my 12th century and further irk me because the author claims on her website that she is historically accurate. I think not! Mention of brandy and laudanum which were not available in that century - so therefore some of the scenes could never have happened. Three Angevin lions when there were only two until the early 1190's. Costume errors. Sometimes it was more like reading about Chaucer's Pilgrims than the Becket bunch. Images such as Henry II talking about his billiard table (conjures a hilarious image of Henry with his cue in hand leaning over a table in the smoky fug of a bar!) or having his head referred to as a cannon ball, yanked me straight out of the story. There are errors peppered throughout the novel both the large and the small, of detail and of mindset.
The heroine is a woman of 21st century sensibilities, who also acts like a 21st century TV forensic expert. There's a moment when she comes to examine her first victim when she garbs herself in the medieval equivalent of scrubs (!) and with an assistant to write down the findings with chalk and slate begins speaking in a monotone. 'The remains of a young female. Some fair hair still attached to the skull...' At this point I burst out laughing because it was so preposterous. The author tells us that Salerno had a body farm where pigs were killed and buried in different circumstances and seasons so that the students could observe the various states of decay. This again caused this reader much mirth. I doubt that Salerno and the teachings of the Trotula were quite on this wavelength. I have the kind of mind that gets hung up on practicalities and is constantly asking 'Would this really have happened?' At the beginning of the novel, Adelia saves the life of a prior by draining his swollen bladder using a straw catheter. Said prior then makes a full and complete recovery and is a perky, helpful chap as the novel continues. But to have that condition in the first place speaks of serious underlying problems. So to have him one moment dying of a blocked bladder and the next fit as a flea and back to normal just doesn't ring true.
The best way to read this book if you are at all sensitive about historical veracity, is to lock up your disbelief before you begin reading and throw away the key. Make a pact to ignore the blurbs about 'well researched', treat Ariana Franklin's medieval Cambridge as an alternative world and you will really enjoy this novel. I give this 10 out of 10 for characterisation, atmosphere and page turning quality, 6 out of 10 for the mystery element which was entertaining but a bit weak in places, and 3 out of 10 for historical accuracy - mainly because she gets Henry II correct (apart from aforementioned billiards, the reference to cannon balls and the surplus lion on his shield which really needs to wait until his son Richard has been to Cyprus. His character is good though). Three stars I think to average things out.
Unsatisfying and anachronistic November 16, 2008
I've really enjoyed Diana Norman's three Makepeace Hedley novels (A Catch of Consequence, Taking Liberties, Sparks Fly Upward) and so had higher expectations for this. Sadly this was a far more uneven offering that lacks all the unique qualities that Norman brought to the historical/romance genre.
Other reviewers have outlined the plot so I won't repeat that, but I felt that the protagonist as a proto-feminist doctor has just become very tired and outworn. I could predict with weariness Adelia's outbursts of how badly women are treated etc etc. She's also a very uneven character: at times she's described as skinny and plain, and then she goes to a banquet and suddenly she's all gleaming golden hair (in 1172? didn't women have to cover their hair?) and is suddenly beautiful.
Also the murder mystery seems quite exploitative and yet unsatisfying: there's enough gore and blood for the horror fans, and yet the perpetrator has been flagged from the start so there's not much mystery. I guess I also found it very unsatisfying that there was no attempt to understand why the guilty parties had done what they did, and playing the 'madness' card seemed like a cop-out to me.
As another reviewer has said, the tone felt all wrong and dislocated to me: almost like Scarpetta in medieval Cambridge, with her spiky personality, forensic skills and hidden vulnerabilities.
There were also great swathes of stuff that was simply show-casing research that had absolutely no bearing on the story in hand, something that Norman has never been guilty of in her other novels.
So, for me, a sad disappointment. I will read the follow-up, The Death Maze, from the library as the plot-line (finding the murderer of Rosamund Clifford, Henry II's mistress) seems far more intriguing and hope that Norman's back to her more subtle and nuanced best.
 Murder in the twelfth Century October 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Adelia travels with her entourage from Salerno to England at the request of Henry II to investigate the apparently ritual murder of 3 children in Cambridge. That city's Jewish population has been accused of the murders and they have all been moved to the castle for their own safety. Adelia is a trained doctor though because of the culture of the time she has to pretend Mansur the Saracen who travels with her is the doctor, and she his assistant. Henry II wants the murders investigated because he is losing revenue whilst Cambridge's money lenders are unable to work. The story is fast paced and brings the 12th century vividly to life with Priors, nuns, knights and ordinary people. There is humour and sparkling dialogue between all strata of society. As her situation becomes more and more precarious, Adelia starts to wonder whether she will be able to unravel the mystery and stay alive. This is historical fiction at its best and I would recommend it to anyone even if they have never considered this genre before.
Super read August 26, 2008
I'd read Diana Norman's previous novels and very much enjoyed them, so had high expectations of Mistress of the Art of Death. The style is lively and accessible, and as a fan of Dorothy Dunnett and CJ Sansom, I found her technique in bringing a historical world to life as competent and effective as these masters of the historical genre. I particularly liked her depiction of Henry II, who is a breath of fresh air in terms of characterisation. Unlike the 1-star reviewer, I did not find the style atrocious - Norman/Franklin has a very particular voice which I think either appeals or does not, but she is a competent and engaging writer.
The subject matter of child killings is emotive, but sensitively handled and the plot is very well constructed - I had my suspicions, but the author includes twists that work very well. I also think the setting and history were very well researched and integrated, and because the anachronisms were conscious and intentional, they did not jar unduly.I am looking forward to reading the sequel and hope there will be several more in the series.
an excellent historical thriller July 11, 2008
Ariana Franklin (the pseudonym of Diana Norman) has created an engaging and believable character in Adelia, a doctor with a special interest in pathology who is called in by Henry 11 of England to investigate a series of child murders.
Adelia is forced to battle prejudice and sexism in her search for the truth, but wins the trust of the Cambridgeshire people by her skill and the love of the King's representative, Sir Roland, by her feisty character.
The mystery is very well plotted and the background both well-researched and believable. Ms. Franklin's characters are lively and I particularly liked her portrayal of the shrewd and forceful King Henry. The grim circumstances of Adelia's quest are lightened by some welcome touches of humour.
I have enjoyed several of the author's previous historical novels, published under her own name, but found this book her best yet. I am looking forward to her next one, 'The Maze of Death', which continues Adelia's adventures.
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