Bea G. (beag) reviewed Grave Goods (Mistress of the Art of Death, Bk 3) (aka Relics of the Dead) on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Adelia Aguilar is commissioned by King Henry II to determine if the bones found in Glastonbury Abbey graveyard are King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. Since King Henry II is having particular trouble with Wales where the legend is strong, he is hoping that Adelia will be able to say that Arthur and Geneviere are dead, since he hopes that will take the strength out of the rebellion.
Although Adelia is reluctant, she agrees to go. And there the adventure begins.
Glastonbury (the town) has had a devastating fire, the abbey has discovered a coffin with a large and a small person inside together (Arthur and Guinevere?), a dead person is wrongly accused of setting the fire which puts his frankpledge at risk, her friend who was travelling also to the area is missing, and Adelia must maintain the ruse that she is the assistant rather than the investigator since she is female. And, then add that the Bishop of St. Albans will be overseeing her work - a man who fathered her child before he answered the call to the Church - and you have a story with adventure, mystery, love, entwined relationships, and wonderful twists.
I really enjoyed this book which kept pulling me back to find out what would happen next. I will be checking out the rest of the Mistress of the Art of Death Series.
Although Adelia is reluctant, she agrees to go. And there the adventure begins.
Glastonbury (the town) has had a devastating fire, the abbey has discovered a coffin with a large and a small person inside together (Arthur and Guinevere?), a dead person is wrongly accused of setting the fire which puts his frankpledge at risk, her friend who was travelling also to the area is missing, and Adelia must maintain the ruse that she is the assistant rather than the investigator since she is female. And, then add that the Bishop of St. Albans will be overseeing her work - a man who fathered her child before he answered the call to the Church - and you have a story with adventure, mystery, love, entwined relationships, and wonderful twists.
I really enjoyed this book which kept pulling me back to find out what would happen next. I will be checking out the rest of the Mistress of the Art of Death Series.
Nell E. (neverett) reviewed Grave Goods (Mistress of the Art of Death, Bk 3) (aka Relics of the Dead) on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book set in 1100's was well written and held my interest throughout the book. An element of mystery, romance and loyalty to the crown were woven throughout the writing. The historical detail was excellent and very believable. This is my first Ariana Franklin book but I plan to read more.
Joan W. (justreadingabook) reviewed Grave Goods (Mistress of the Art of Death, Bk 3) (aka Relics of the Dead) on + 1726 more book reviews
I have throughly enjoyed all of her books and the stories just keep getting better. Excellent characters and details. You won't be disappointed.
Jeanne L. (bkydbirder) -
Great HF mystery. The entire series are books which really grip you and keep you waiting for that next book. Highly recommend this series, but would suggest starting with the first: Mistress of the Art of Death.
Enjoyable whodunit from the time of Henry II. At times dark, at times light - a good balance. The use of the legal system within the story and the reforms to it that Henry II introduced are especially interesting.
Rosemary F. (canadianeh) reviewed Grave Goods (Mistress of the Art of Death, Bk 3) (aka Relics of the Dead) on + 242 more book reviews
Not quite as grisly as Mistress of the Art of Death and therefore more enjoyable for me. This series, set in the 11th century is one of the best historical mysteries I have read. Wonderful writing and colorful - made even more so by the presence of Adelia's "entourage": a Moor and a woman from the fens of Wales. I like the way it included historical detail, like the superstitions of the time and the social structure. Although she is the medical sleuth, Adelia must constantly take a back seat because of her gender. Really a great read!
R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed Grave Goods (Mistress of the Art of Death, Bk 3) (aka Relics of the Dead) on + 1452 more book reviews
I truly enjoy the characters in this series and while the first couple were so interesting as I progressed I found myself classifying succeeding volumes as cozy medieval mysteries. Adelia is a wonderfully independent and intelligent woman. What I find difficult to understand is why she is so emotional. Her relationships with Rowley and the king are tempestuous and almost always fraught with conflict even though she loves Rowley and respects the king. I quite enjoy the conversations with the king even though as one of my online reading friends pointed out highly unlikely. The plot of this one finds Adelia ordered to identify the bones of two skeletons found in a coffin in the graveyard at Glastonbury. The locals claim they are the bones of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere and King Henry hopes they are because the rebellious groups he is dealing with are sure King Arthur will ride again and lead them to victory. But Adelia finds more tasks when she is kidnapped by a local group of men, one of whose members is accused of setting fire to Glastonbury. Adding to her woes is the disappearance of her friend, Lady Emma, her son and her knight champion. Can she complete all these tasks?
Alana C. (alanacoble) reviewed Grave Goods (Mistress of the Art of Death, Bk 3) (aka Relics of the Dead) on
another good one from Ariana Franklin - tension and mystery and an interesting resolution
D. Leah L. (DLeahL) -
I find this series of books delightfully entertaining. It's difficult to create an authentic character who purports to live 1000 years ago in general - but to give such a personality many "modern" sensibilities while retaining the reader's suspension of belief is very difficult. I had my most problems with this difficulty when I read the first book in the series, Mistress of the Art of Death.
Franklin has allowed her characters to grow and change in satisfying and believable ways. I think that my favorite character is her take on an authentic historical figure - King Henry II of England. It is easy to judge Henry with 20/20 vision and a kind of "backwards"perspective. His actions during the last half of his life (give or take) - imprisoning his wife, cruelty to his sons, abducting and raping their fiancees, etc.is sufficiently obnoxious to create a kind of disdain among many people today (especially women who tend to glorify Eleanor of Aquitaine).
Yet we also must remember that there was some reason Henry, at the age of 19 years, was able to convince Eleanor - several years older than him and married to the King of France - to anull her marriage and wed him. This and his reputation as a "lady's man" of sorts does indicate that he must have had a good amount of personal charm. In addition to this, many of his laws and decisions seem to point to a king with a good head on his shoulders.
Franklin portrays a realistic Henry for her readers. Considering this, and how much I enjoy the people within her novels, makes me realize that these books, in many ways, are much more character driven than the plot. The plots are interesting enough, but it is the way in which her characters view and react to events which provide the spice.
Franklin has allowed her characters to grow and change in satisfying and believable ways. I think that my favorite character is her take on an authentic historical figure - King Henry II of England. It is easy to judge Henry with 20/20 vision and a kind of "backwards"perspective. His actions during the last half of his life (give or take) - imprisoning his wife, cruelty to his sons, abducting and raping their fiancees, etc.is sufficiently obnoxious to create a kind of disdain among many people today (especially women who tend to glorify Eleanor of Aquitaine).
Yet we also must remember that there was some reason Henry, at the age of 19 years, was able to convince Eleanor - several years older than him and married to the King of France - to anull her marriage and wed him. This and his reputation as a "lady's man" of sorts does indicate that he must have had a good amount of personal charm. In addition to this, many of his laws and decisions seem to point to a king with a good head on his shoulders.
Franklin portrays a realistic Henry for her readers. Considering this, and how much I enjoy the people within her novels, makes me realize that these books, in many ways, are much more character driven than the plot. The plots are interesting enough, but it is the way in which her characters view and react to events which provide the spice.
Debra S. (lakeinthedesert) reviewed Grave Goods (Mistress of the Art of Death, Bk 3) (aka Relics of the Dead) on + 12 more book reviews
if you love history, mystery and medicine you will like these books. if you love Gabdelon's Outlander series, you will love these too. my only complaint is, they are too short
Althea M. (althea) reviewed Grave Goods (Mistress of the Art of Death, Bk 3) (aka Relics of the Dead) on + 774 more book reviews
Fairly typical medieval mystery. Enjoyable, I had no complaints; no totally glaring anachronisms. I found the justifications for an intelligent woman to be working as an investigator in the middle ages to be acceptable. However, I can't say that the plot was truly remarkable or memorable. I'd read more in this series if they happen my way; but won't go out of my way to find them.
Amy B. (BaileysBooks) reviewed Grave Goods (Mistress of the Art of Death, Bk 3) (aka Relics of the Dead) on + 491 more book reviews
This is Book 3 in The Mistress of the Art of Death series.
I am a very big fan of this series. I thought that the original book was a fantastic blend of forensics, medieval life, superstition, and history. The second book was almost as good as the first. This third installment was a bit of a disappointment.
The mystery and suspense that I have come to expect from a Mistress book were all present here. Perhaps what I felt lacking was the focus of the plot. The entire search for the grave of King Arthur seemed slightly hokey and a bit too contrived than is fitting for what I have come to expect from Ms. Franklin's novels and I walked away from this book without feeling very impressed.
This book did serve to move along more of the interpersonal relationships between the main characters, but even then it had the feeling of being more of an afterthought in the final pages rather than as a core element of the entire story.
In all, this was not a bad addition to the Mistress series. I simply consider it to be the weakest link in an otherwise gleaming chain of well written and imaginative mysteries.
I am a very big fan of this series. I thought that the original book was a fantastic blend of forensics, medieval life, superstition, and history. The second book was almost as good as the first. This third installment was a bit of a disappointment.
The mystery and suspense that I have come to expect from a Mistress book were all present here. Perhaps what I felt lacking was the focus of the plot. The entire search for the grave of King Arthur seemed slightly hokey and a bit too contrived than is fitting for what I have come to expect from Ms. Franklin's novels and I walked away from this book without feeling very impressed.
This book did serve to move along more of the interpersonal relationships between the main characters, but even then it had the feeling of being more of an afterthought in the final pages rather than as a core element of the entire story.
In all, this was not a bad addition to the Mistress series. I simply consider it to be the weakest link in an otherwise gleaming chain of well written and imaginative mysteries.
Alice J. (ASJ) -
Nice Continuation of the series. She brings in some of the Authorian legend into this one. Her portraly of King Henry II is a lot of fun. Good mystery and plot great series.
Emily M. (nnaylime) -
** spoiler alert ** Henry II's Mistress of the Art of Death is summoned to identify bones purportedly belonging to King Arthur and Guinevere. SIGN ME UP!
That out of the way, I wasn't nearly as fond of this book as I was of the two that preceded it, though it did pick up at the end, it dragged at the beginning and I began to see a bit of odd redundancy between this book and the previous.
There's more than one villain--however one is always with the church; one of the villains will be a woman; one of the villains will speak Latin; one of the villains will be non-culpable due to insanity. Menopause and insanity go hand-in-hand (and not just from the perspective of the contemporaries [which I could excuse:], but as an actual OPTION [that really angered me, but there were enough other redeeming factors to keep me from giving the book a lower rating.:])
What I did really like about the book was the nail-biting climax, that Henry II redeemed himself at the end (as he always does [in his way:]) while bringing a great deal of humanity to the crown, and the over-arching real mystery related to King Arthur, which is something in which I've long-been fascinated.
That out of the way, I wasn't nearly as fond of this book as I was of the two that preceded it, though it did pick up at the end, it dragged at the beginning and I began to see a bit of odd redundancy between this book and the previous.
There's more than one villain--however one is always with the church; one of the villains will be a woman; one of the villains will speak Latin; one of the villains will be non-culpable due to insanity. Menopause and insanity go hand-in-hand (and not just from the perspective of the contemporaries [which I could excuse:], but as an actual OPTION [that really angered me, but there were enough other redeeming factors to keep me from giving the book a lower rating.:])
What I did really like about the book was the nail-biting climax, that Henry II redeemed himself at the end (as he always does [in his way:]) while bringing a great deal of humanity to the crown, and the over-arching real mystery related to King Arthur, which is something in which I've long-been fascinated.
