Review by New York Times Review
Is there a British politician alive who won't quake in his hand-sewn boots to read THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT (Shaye Areheart, $25)? A typically cruel and subtle piece of work by Ruth Rendell, writing under her Barbara Vine pseudonym, the novel charts the calamitous career trajectory of a Conservative member of Parliament when he tries to evade the consequences of a sexual misadventure that results in two deaths, including that of his married lover. Although we're reminded that "all political parties have their sleaziness," the story might be read as a cautionary fable for a particularly tense time, perhaps subtitled "How the Tories Shot Themselves in the Foot in the 1994 Elections." From the moment Ivor Tesham chooses not to admit his role in the kidnapping of Hebe Furnal, he becomes a prime candidate for blackmail. But coming clean would mean acknowledging Hebe as his mistress and explaining how she happened to be trussed up in a car that crashed into a 40-ton truck, killing her and one of her kidnappers and leaving the other seriously injured. Much better to let the police think Hebe had been mistaken for a rich man's trophy wife than confess that the ''abduction" was actually a kinky birthday present for Ivor's sexually adventurous paramour. Blackmail would indeed seem to be in order, but Vine is much too cunning to engage in that generic vulgarism. Ivor contemplates his fate with more anxiety than guilt; the cross he bears isn't remorse but uncertainty about who might have guessed his secret. Given the strain he's under, it's a good thing he doesn't know what Hebe's creepy best friend - who shares the role of narrator with Ivor's more sympathetic brother-in-law - is up to. "To understand Ivor you have first to accept him as the quintessential English gentleman," says his understanding relative, who goes on to enumerate the many virtues that mitigate Ivor's reckless behavior and callous disregard for others. "But he has a weakness," we're told. "He is very afraid of ridicule." Ivor can't avoid becoming ridiculous; but because Vine leaves out nothing in portraying him, he remains likable - never admirable, but likable. In the end, it's circumstance, not conscience, that trips him up, as the damage to people whose existence he barely acknowledges piles up and overwhelms him. When all is seemingly settled, only the reader has grasped the enormity of the fallout from his selfishness. Walter Mosley swears he's through with Easy Rawlins, the appealing hero of his Los Angeles series set in the middle of the last century. In THE LONG FALL (Riverhead, $25.95), he introduces us to Leonid McGill, who lives in present-day New York and is an entirely different kind of guy. An ex-boxer and onetime fixer for mobsters, McGill has set up as a private eye and is trying to make amends for his past - which proves difficult when someone starts killing off the men he recently located for a paying client. While nowhere near as charming as Rawlins, McGill is easy to like, given the character-building temptations that come his way as he tries to be an honest investigator and a good family man. What's weird is that the book doesn't feel as if it's set in today's New York. Were it not for the occasional jarring reference, like the "gap" in the skyline left by the World Trade Center, we might be in the New York of the 1950s, which is where McGill's soul seems to reside. The man drives a 1957 Pontiac, speaks of "mooks" and "mutts," and gravitates to places that are either anachronistic (seedy Gordo's Gym) or beyond time (Coney Island). Happily, the terrific characters he meets in these off-the-grid places speak the same dated lingo and are caught in the same time warp. All things considered, McGill is someone you can definitely settle down with. Let's not analyze why we love women who cut up dead bodies. Let's just enjoy GRAVE GOODS (Putnam, $25.95), the third adventure in Ariana Franklin's dynamic series of novels featuring Adelia Aguilar, the free-thinking "mistress of the art of death" whose practice of forensic pathology makes her a witch in 12th-century England, but a favorite of the enlightened King Henry II. The king's motives are entirely political when he summons this "extraordinary and dangerous woman" to Glastonbury Abbey to examine two skeletons said to be the remains of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. "You need Arthur to be dead," Adelia says, appreciating the impact of this news on the rebellious Celtic tribes who await the return of their legendary king. Science and romance vie with superstition and barbarism in this richly detailed, almost indecently thrilling mystery. The ninth mystery in Cara Black's irresistible series set in Paris is unlikely to have a more coherent plot than its predecessors. But, let's admit it, the city's 20 arrondissements aren't equally interesting, and MURDER IN THE LATIN QUARTER (Soho, $24) might well be the book we've been waiting for. Aimée Leduc, Black's adorably punkish sleuth, is in her element in this youthful setting, the intellectual heart of the city, with its schools, museums, bookstores and student haunts. But its narrow streets are also home to Haitian nationals, like the professor who has been ritualistically murdered in his rooms above the Ostéologique Anatomie Comparée. Luckily, Aimée has her battered pink Vespa for zipping around the quartier in pursuit of the killer, who leads her on a mad chase up alleys and down catacombs in one of this colorful series's most scenic itineraries. Ruth Rendell (alias Barbara Vine) reminds us that 'all political parties have their sleaziness.'
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [October 27, 2009]
Review by Booklist Review
Rich period detail supersedes suspense in Franklin's second historical novel to feature twelfth-century forensic investigator Adelia Aguilar. A graduate of the Salerno School of Medicine, Adelia is one of the few female doctors of her era. But her professional efforts are often thwarted by those who believe her to be a witch. King Henry II isn't one of them. When Glastonbury Abbey, one of England's holiest sites, is burned to the ground, Henry summons the Mistress of the Art of Death to identify two skeletons found among the rubble. Could they be the bodies of the legendary King Arthur and his Lady Guinevere? King Henry hopes so. News of King Arthur's demise would help him snuff out the rebellion in Wales for good. With the help of her Arab assistant, Mansur, Adelia picks through the bones in pursuit of the truth. But her obstacles are many: wary villagers, enigmatic men of the cloth, and a monster lurking in the woods. Plenty of dark cellars and caves add a whiff of Gothic to this engaging entry.--Block, Allison Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in 1176, Franklin's excellent third Mistress of the Art of Death novel (after The Serpent's Tale) finds Adelia Aguilar, a "qualified doctor from the School of Medicine in Salerno," in the holy town of Glastonbury, where Henry II has sent her to inspect two sets of bones rumored to be those of Arthur and Guinevere. Henry is hoping that an unequivocally dead Arthur will discourage the rebellious Welsh. The bones have been uncovered by the few monks, under the saintly Abbot Sigward, who remain after a terrible and mysterious fire devastated the town and abbey. Adelia's party includes her loyal Arabian attendant, Mansur, whose willingness to play the role of doctor allows Adelia to be his "translator" and practice the profession she loves; and Gyltha, Mansur's lover and the caretaker of Adelia's small daughter, Allie. Eloquently sketched characters, including a ragtag group of Glastonbury men down on their luck, and bits of medieval lore flavor the constantly unfolding plot. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Forensic investigator Adelia Aguillar's latest assignment from Henry II is to identify two skeletons uncovered at Glastonbury Abbey as the late King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. This third entry in Franklin's (www.arianafranklin.com) "Mistress of Death" series-following The Serpent's Tale (2008), also available from Books on Tape and Penguin Audio-finds Adelia once again putting her forensic skills to the test while trying not to arouse suspicions of witchcraft. Actress Kate Reading's (Scarpetta) clear-toned, evenly paced narration enhances this excellent work, which will appeal to fans of Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael novels and Paul Doherty's Hugh Corbett mysteries. [Previous entries in this series were nominated for Macavity and Dagger awards; the Bantam hc also received a starred review, LJ 12/08.-Ed.]-Janet Martin, Southern Pines P.L., NC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The third volume in a successful British historical criminal-investigation series sees its heroine attempting to authenticate the bones of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. Glastonbury, ancient abbey and possible site of Avalon, where, myth suggests, the once and future king Arthur rests, awaiting his return, is the setting for Franklin's latest (The Serpent's Tale, 2008, etc.) smartly paced and neatly delivered 12th-century Adelia mystery featuring an Italian-born doctor unique in her forensic and healing abilities. Having assisted King Henry II before, she is now commissioned by him again to examine the two bodies, one male, one female, found in a coffin in a Glastonbury graveyard and to establish as far as possible that these are Arthur's remains, in order to suppress Welsh hopes that the ancient king will come again to lead their rebellions. An occasionally ragged web of subplots involving the disappearance of Adelia's friend Lady Wolvercote, the identity of the man who burned down Glastonbury Abbey, a savage robber named Wolf, the mad innkeeper's wife and a son murdered by his own father tends to dominate the pages and tip the book's balance to include more action and less detection. Adelia, a rationalist and modernist with opinions on pacifism and contraception, also sets aside some of her logic when her ex-lover, the Bishop of St. Albans, reappears and wins her heart once more. A long denouement ties up most loose ends while leaving the door open for volume four. A well-researched, colorful, sometimes comical and often engaging mystery, although the series is beginning to show more signs of familiarity than freshness. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
