Recent Reads

So I love a good book.  I am always strolling the isles of my bookstores and library looking for a new read.  I usually go by cover or feeling.  Sometimes I find books through writers I love or the website whatshouldireadnext.com.  I recently reread a book I read a couple years ago.  I like dark, morbid, disturbing books, books that may deal with something that most people would not like.  Just a quick and instantly recognizable one is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  These type of deep mysteries or thrillers are just my cup of tea.  Anyway, here is a book that I thought was really well written.  I liked the historical aspect and the conclusion was unexpected enough.  I find that as you read more books you get a knack for guessing the killer.  The book is Mistress in the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin.  

It is a story about a woman who was raised in Italy to be a doctor, in medieval times, times that women are not allowed to do much outside the home.  She is summoned by the King of England to help catch a killer of children.  She travels to England with a Jew and an Arab, which in that time was extreamly dangerous because of racial tensions.  I liked the heroine and her attitude to that world around her, knowing that she is a lesser person in the eyes of society, but knowing that she is smarter than most men.  I thought the story progressed well and was not to far fetched.  The pace went well through the entire book and I was hooked from the first chapter.  I thought it was a good idea to try and tell this woman's story because I would like to believe that there were some women who were respected and allowed to do "man's work".  I don't want to give to much away but I really do recommend this to anyone who loves a good story. 

This is #1 in the series and even tho I have read all of them I am stopping at my ibrary to get #2 again.  I plan on reading the whole series again.