A Murderous Procession- Book Review

A Murderous Procession by Ariana Franklin is the fourth book in the Mistress of the Art of Death Series. The first three, The Mistress of the Art of Death, The Serpents Tale and Grave Goods all lead up to the story in A Murderous Procession. The characters that you first meet in Mistress of the Art of Death return Adelia and Rowley and I must tell you that these are two of my favorite fictional characters that I have ever met.

Adelia is an independent strong woman who comes from Salerno where she has been trained in medicine and the art of autopsy. Since the book takes place in the eleventh century a female doctor is practically unheard of outside of Salerno and in England where Adelia was sent at the request of the King women who practice medicine and healing are considered witches and heretics and are hunted down by the church and then burned at the stake. So Adelia has to pretend to be an assistant to a eunuch who speaks and understands English but only speaks Italian in front of everyone but Adelia's immediate "family" he is also a Muslim which causes him and Adelia to encounter prejudice from many. The relationship between the two is strong and similar to that of an older brother and younger sister.

However the relationship that really pops in this series is between Adelia and Rowley. The two fall madly in love during the first book in spite of their differences and Ms. Franklin can turn up the heat. Without giving too much away by the fourth book they are as together as two people can be when one of them is a bishop in the Catholic Church. They also have a daughter Allie.

All four books follow a similar pattern. Adelia gets caught up in some mystery involving murders and connections to the King. She gets herself in trouble both with her words and her actions as she is truly a woman before her time. Rowley loves this and hates this about her all at the same time and yet every time he comes to her rescue. In this latest installment Bishop Rowley has some competition from a strapping Irish captain who also finds himself falling in love with Adelia ready to give his life for her.

Ms. Franklin does a marvelous job of bringing the reader into the story. I felt that i was on the caravan with the characters and I could feel the swaying of the boat as the party travels from England to Sicily transporting the kings daughter to her prospective bridegroom.

Start with the first in the series and move on from there and then when you are done with a Murderous Procession I can almost guarantee that like me you will be eagerly awaiting number five and saying a few prayers that Adelia and Rowley get a very wonderful happily ever after. Ms. Franklin also has a delicious website where you can talk to others about the books and leave feedback for the author.

Seriously these are some of my favorites and I read at least two books a week.