Elizabeth B. (Cattriona) - reviewed on 3/20/2011 + 200 more book reviews

This is a novel of historical fiction and suspense/mystery based upon real figures in history and a poem by Robert Browning. I wish the poem had been included in the front of the book, rather than the back, as I didn't learn of its connection until I'd finished it -- I'd encourage readers to read it first. The writing is good and the story, with its murderous theme, is intriguing. The second wife of a duke is nearly murdered several times after her marriage, and she pries into the death of the first duchess -- was it suicide? Accident? Illness? Did her own husband kill her, as the rumors proclaim? The only annoying feature is the use of Italian -- though they all speak Italian, the characters only use it when they have the need for a vulgar word -- crude words for sex acts, genitalia, etc., which seemed a bit odd. Why doesn't the title character, whose native tongue is German, swear in German? Otherwise, the characters are well-drawn and it is easy to get immersed into the story until the mystery is solved at the very end. Recommended.

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