This was the best Medicus yet and I did so hate for it to end. I know another one will be coming out soon..this"Ruso and Tilla's excitement at arriving in Rome with their new baby daughter " tells me it is starting right where I left off.. Cannot wait!
Hadrian's Wall and the borderlands take the reader to a bygone time that I am so happy to revisit. I adore this series and it is both well written and well researcher. Ruth Downie is a very skillful writer, with the ability to combine humor and great depth of characters, with the history and mystery we always hope to have in historical mysteries.
Preorder the next one, I have! "Vita Brevis: A Crime Novel of the Roman Empire"
Once I got into the rhythm of this tale and how it was told, I loved it! I immediately had to learn what I could about where Eye was and who had lived there( that is what I do when I read).
Eleanor Duchess of Gloucester's fate was known to me peripherally, by reading a lot of books about the precursors to the Wars of the Roses, but not in this detail.I want to learn more about her and about Barnabas and Alys of course.
Some of the book is about the rise ( and fall) of Eleanor Cobham and her husband Humphrey the Duke of Gloucester. It touches on Henry VI and surely of that period in which tales of witches and fortunetelling were powerful and dangerous. ( Remember Jacquetta of Luxembourg . mother of Elizabeth Grey who married King Edward?) It also alternates with the hero of the book,Barnabas who reluctantly worked for Margery Jourdemayne, the "Witch of Eye" and Thomas Southwell, a canon and rector.
The alternating of narratives in chapters worked very well and had a pace that worked. Recommending this book for historical novel devotees and those who appreciate attention to period.I am off for the next in the series.
4+ Stars ~ " Owen Tudor, a Welsh servant, waits in Windsor Castle to meet his new mistress,Queen Catherine of Valois, widow of the warrior king, Henry V"
It was an enjoyable and enlightening book about Owen Tudor himself. I have read The Forbidden Bride and books about the Beauforts, but this one was solely about Tudor himself, which was different. Sometimes I do prefer the female viewpoint so I will explore what Book 2 of the Tudors which is "Jasper".
It was written well enough for me to look at his other books and I am currently exploring Eleanor Cobham as book subject, so will give that a go also.
Little is known of the youth and early history of Owen Tudor so I think that the book was factual and interesting without being at all heavy. Recommended for all who enjoy this period of time and other historical characters outside of the main Tudor family.
4.5 stars I think and nicely done. Not sure that Victoria Thompson has quite decided who will be the principal players and it was hard for me, at least, to make the switch. That being stated, Maeve and Gino with the assistance of Felix and Elizabeth Decker, carried on quite well as Sarah and Malloy sail home from their European honeymoon.
The mystery was wrapped up in a just a few pages and I am not sure what is happening to the perpetrator of the murders,Eddie the boot-boy and his love object Una O'Neill. Possibly that will be revisited in another story or at least we can be apprised of what the laws would have done in that case.
This book was a bonus book in the series and came out in time for Christmas.As others have indicated, it was a very fine bonus. I am anxiously awaiting the next in the series "Murder in Morningside Heights " which may be out tomorrow? Get yours now!
