I know this is late, but I just wanted to say thanks to the group for nominating this! I probably never would have read it otherwise.

I thought it was sad that most of the victims were children, but I absolutely loved the characters - especially Adelia. There were parts that felt a bit modern - I even found one "darn" that felt really out of place - but I also really enjoyed the medieval setting. I definitely want to read another in the series sometime.

Loved this book! I really enjoyed the tie-in to the Beckett/Henry 2nd saga. I am savoring "not" having read the most recent in the series. I smile every time I see it on my shelf. :)

Joyce, trying yes, but not too happy about the whole thing through most of all three books.

I've read all three of the Adelia books and enjoy the series very much. I think it's the strong female character and I've realized many of the myteries I read, particularly the historicals, have featured an independent woman: Peter Treymayne's Sister Fidelma, Margaret Frazer's Sister Frevisse... The other interesting twist in Adelia's life is she is trapped in England with not much hope of returning to Sicily and trying to make the best of it.

So true!

Oh, I agree with you, Donna, that the romance between the two of them made sense. They were a good fit for one another. And I like your thoughts on her not having the control over her emotions that she thought she did. I guess I just wish Adelia's dialogue hadn't become silly sounding (in regards to Rowley). She was so down to earth with such a no nonsense attitude at the beginning, I think I would have liked to see more of that side of her played in along with the new found love she was experiencing. But hey, love makes people do and say crazy things ;)

Well I do think the whole romance with Rowley made sense. She thought she had firmly made up her mind as to the path her life would take and then - wham - it was turned upside down. She found she did not have the complete control over her emotions she thought she did. If those scenes had been written better they might not have been as jarring and blended in better with her overall character.

I agree with you H...I thought the whole thing was kinda awkward. I wasn't feeling it very much from her POV.

Thanks, Donna :)

It's funny...I normally don't tend to get very frustrated when I'm reading something, but those parts with Adelia just irritated me! If they had been written differently, more true to her character, the book would have been so much better! I can't understand why Franklin decided to go that route with her. It doesn't make any sense.

Heather you have hit the nail on the head. I have been reading the back and forth opinions on Adelia and I could not put my finger on what was wrong. Corny is a good word.

Thanks Bill, Pontalba and Heidi for your comments :)

Well, I went ahead and finished this up last night. I really enjoyed the mystery part of the story and was glad I didn't give up on it.

*****mild spoiler*****

I figured out what it was exactly that was bothering me with the story. It wasn't the fact that there was a romantic thread to it. It was the way Adelia's dialogue and thoughts were written during those scenes that bugged me. I thought her reactions and her lines sounded so corny...To me, they didn't fit with her character or the tone of the story. I did however really enjoy Rowley's parts. I thought those were written wonderfully and stayed true to his character.

I would definitely like to read the other books in this series. Especially after hearing several people say that they get better with each one.

Heather... I think books 2 and 3 are better because Adelia and Rowley's relationship is less the focal point than in the first book (although he plays a role in each story)... just finished Grave Goods and although I guessed one of the threads... I think it's my favorite of the three (medieval England and Arthurian legends... my favorite blend... not sure why since I wouldn't last 12 mins in 1176 AD).

****SPOILER*******









I even believed it when she decided she would not marry him, ever. I heard the click, and fully understood where she was coming from.

Agreed Kathy, if we all thought the same, and liked the same things and aspects of a book, it'd be a pretty boring world! :)

Heather and Bill,
I see what you mean about her turn about, but really, I enjoyed the latter half more than the first.
As for her falling for Rowley, I found it totally believable, she had been sheltered in every way, and here comes this huge bit of masculinity....hormones took over. And he was a worthy man as well, that is something her character would have required in the final analysis.

Heather,

I think you expressed very succintly what I tried to say earlier. I agree that the ending did not live up to the promise of the beginning.

*****mild spoiler*****

Help! I seem to be losing steam on this one...I've got about 100 pages left, but it's not holding my attention like it was at the beginning. I did take a break from it to read another book, so maybe that's the problem.

Is it just me, or does the second half of the book take on a different feel? I guess I'm referring to Adelia, really. Her personality seems to have done a 180 since discovering she's in love with Rowley. Normally, I like having some romance going on, but it seems like the feisty Adelia I enjoyed in the beginning has morphed into a lovesick schoolgirl. It feels out of place with her character to me. Did anyone else feel like this, or is it just me? I haven't read most of the above posts for fear of spoilers, so I'm sorry if I'm asking about something that has already been discussed.

I really, really wanted to love this book and was so gung-ho about it when I started it. Now I'm considering putting it down for now and attempting to finish it at a later date.

Well, Pontalba, I guess we will just have to agree to disagree. Of course, that's what makes reading and discussing it so interesting, all the different opinions.

Kathy wrote: "I was a bit surprised at the complaints about Adelia being too modern. She has been trained by someone whose thinking is more advanced about the capabilities of women and finds herself in a place ..."

I agree, there were probably many exceptions to the "rules" of the time. However, Franklin did not make me believe Adelia was one of those people. Her attitude was too modern, in that as though she was a modern woman transported to the past acting out, instead of a woman born in that time that through extreme luck, and even more talent had overcome.

In spite of the descriptions of the conditions of the time, I did not feel it. Maybe it's a case of being told, and not shown.

I was a bit surprised at the complaints about Adelia being too modern. She has been trained by someone whose thinking is more advanced about the capabilities of women and finds herself in a place where the attitudes towards women are far from advanced. She is one of those women who is ahead of her times. I love books about such women, strong women who have a mind of their own when it isn't fashionable or permissable to do so.

Thanks Starling. I'll add the new books to my TBR list but will admit the won't be at the top of the list.

Bill, spoilers ahead....

They do and they don't delve into "romance". The "romantic" attachment is a plot thread in both books, but it isn't what the book is all about. It takes both books to resolve their issues, but I don't think there is a whole lot of agonizing going on.

I read this book awhile ago and while I noticed that I gave it four stars at the time, I must admit that was because I admired it more than I liked it. I think Ariana Franklin writes well and does seem to capture the historical era well (the main characters aside), but ultimately the book didn't grab me and I have not rushed out to read the second or third book of the series. The tendancy of these newer mystery thriller series to add romance bothers me - the agonizing over the relationships takes away from the mystery elements for me. Hercule Poiret, Miss Marple, Same Spade, or Philip Marlowe never agonized over their love lives (although I guess Marlowe did in his last book). Perhaps it's a marketing thing or the theory that people read series more for the characters than the mystery. Anyway, I was afraid the later books would delve more into the romance so I stayed away from them.

Hi Pontalba, Yes I agree with you about the rather gory details. Unfortunately I think some writers think they have to do that to be popular. I usually just skim those paragraphs.

I finished it last night. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I thought Franklin was unnecessarily zealous in her constant repeating of how the children were killed. Enough! I heard you! The same goes for the two animal killings. In fact, that, and the excerpt at the end from the next one that details another animal torture are the reasons I won't be reading more of her books.
As I mentioned above, the characters were a little too modern and/or bizarre for my taste. That Rowley was able to chase the killer across Europe is of course possible, but I just didn't find it realistic enough.

There was much in the second half of the book to keep me interested and reading. Adelia's burgeoning feelings for Rowley, her struggle with herself over those feelings, and her love for the child Ulf were well done.

The events just didn't gel for me, although I got a kick out of her portrayal of Henry II.

Donna, I have some of Brother Cadfael books in my TBR stack, someday I'll get to them to compare. I'm intrigued now.

While I was reading this book I kept thinking of the Brother Cadfael books by Ellis Peters. They are set a few decades earlier but with some similarities in that Brother Cadfael solves murders with scientific knowledge he gained during his time in the Crusades. Has anyone else read any of this series? Which do you like better?

I found Adelia's character a bit modern too, and that is a common complaint for this writer - even her older books under a different pen name. But in this case I can hold on to belief because she comes from a different culture where her training is just barely possible. And she came out of a professional situation where she was being protected from the real world.

I'm about 3/4ths of the way through the book, and am enjoying it. Adelia's character is presented well, although she is a little too modern for the times.

Donna, you are going to LOVE the next two books in the series. I did.

Spoiler Alert

I just finished Mistress of the Art of Death and I found it an absorbing complex mystery, a real page turner. I suspected early on that one of the knights was the murderer but I never suspected the involvement of Sister Veronica.

I enjoyed Adelia’s tell it like it is attitude, Gyltha’s common sense, and Sir Rowley’s confusion in trying to come to terms with Adelia and his feelings for her.

The diverse characters and the historical details woven throughout the story were also very interesting. England was in the middle of a power struggle between Church and State and reason and superstition, a very dangerous time for all involved.

Heather wrote: "I'm almost to the halfway mark and I'm really, really enjoying it! I love Adelia! What a great character. She has such a dry sense of humor and just calls things as she sees them. I've been pleasan..."

Heather, I enjoy Adelia's sense of humor, too, and I love the banter between Adelia and Rowley.

I'm almost to the halfway mark and I'm really, really enjoying it! I love Adelia! What a great character. She has such a dry sense of humor and just calls things as she sees them. I've been pleasantly surprised at the little bits of humor here and there in the story. I wasn't expecting that.

Starling wrote: "Kathy, I think Amazon got confused too. There was a fourth book in my Coming Soon recommendations but it is gone now."

That must be where I saw it. Thanks, Starling.

Kathy, I think Amazon got confused too. There was a fourth book in my Coming Soon recommendations but it is gone now.

Dorie wrote: "Kathy, I hate to tell you this, but Relics of the Dead is the UK name for Grave Goods, the third in the series. So it's not a new book. I know, I was disappointed too. Guess we'll just have to w..."

Well, I thought it probably was, too, but I could have sworn I saw it say somewhere that it was the fourth title in the series. It makes sense that it is the same as Grave Goods with its title being Relics of the Dead, but whatever I saw got me confused. Thanks, Dorie, for unmuddling my mind on this one.

Half way through and really enjoying this book. It is a much more complex story than I expected and the background historical information is worked in nicely and really moves the story along not just as side information.

I loved it too!

Kathy, I hate to tell you this, but Relics of the Dead is the UK name for Grave Goods, the third in the series. So it's not a new book. I know, I was disappointed too. Guess we'll just have to wait a little longer.

I read this book last year and loved it. I hope everyone else enjoys it as much. The character of Adelia Aguilar is wonderful. I've read the next two, The Serpent's Tale and Grave Goods, and enjoyed those, too. I'm surprised, but delighted, that a fourth one, Relics of the Dead, is coming out the 13th of this month, as the 3rd one just came out this past spring.

I read this several months ago, and just finished the third book in the series. I'm curious what others will think of it. Obviously, since I've read other books in the series, I loved it.

I'm so excited to hear you're enjoying it, Donna! I'm hoping to get my current read finished up tomorrow so I can start on it. Can't wait!

Started this book tonight and I am having a hard time putting it down. How did I not hear of this book before?

You voted this book in for the August discussion.

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

This group read will go from now until the end of August. On the 15th of August however I will put up Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express as that was the runner up. I am doing this because we were supposed to have mid-monthly group reads to make it easier for all of you.

The reason we are doing this is because I have a bird-brain and totally forgot we were doing it mid-monthly.

Please forgive me!