The Serpent's Tale

Historical fiction is not my favorite genre. It's not even my second favorite genre. In fact, I think I can count on one hand the number of historical fiction books I've read. Ariana Franklin's Mistress of the Art of Death was a book I read for a book group years ago and I loved it. The idea of a woman medical examiner back in the twelfth century was fascinating and the murders she was solving were captivating.

This time around I wasn't so enamored with this Mistress. Adelia is the same, for the most part, but this story wasn't my cup of tea. Too much talk of kings and queens and treason and plotting and God. There were so many characters to keep track of I would forget who was who and the way that Franklin cloaks her mystery from the reader makes things confusing at times. As if I'm missing something. And I guess I am. I was frustrated with Rowley and irritated at Adelia's forced citizenship.

Had this been the first book of Adelia I wouldn't have read any more after it. As it stands I did purchase the third book so I'll probably read that one as well. Hopefully the case will be more up my alley.