Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

The fourth in her "Mistress of the Art of Death" series, A Murderous Procession is set about two years after Grave Goods and finds Adelia, Rowley (her lover) and Allie (their daughter) living a quiet life in the country. But their contentment is shattered when Henry II once again summons Adelia. Her task: to accompany Henry’s daughter Joanna to Sicily where she is to marry King William. The catch: she has to leave her daughter behind in the care of Queen Eleanor as a “hostage” to ensure that she will return to England from her native country.


The journey to Sicily is long and trecherous and it is made more frightful as members of the “procession” begin to turn up murdered. With her odd ways and friendship with her fellow countryman, an Arab named Mansur, Adelia soon finds herself a prime suspect. Are the deaths related, a series of coincidences or part of a bigger plot? Adelia and Rowley disagree over what it all means and when Adelia and her friends are mistaken for Cathars and arrested, she eventually realizes that someone is out to get her.

The sword Excalibur makes an appearance in a subplot as it is intended as a gift from Henry to his future son-in-law. But someone else knows of the swords existence and wants it for himself. As in Grave Goods, Franklin tries to weave several plotlines together, but they just don’t seem to work that well.  One thing that I did enjoy was learning more about Sicily during this time.  Apparently it was rather foward thinking and liberal and I would like to learn more.  I also liked the Author's Note that listed several people, places and things from the book and gave more information on them.

I was disappointed with this book. Although I did not think Grave Goods was an outstanding book by any means, it was entertaining enough and so I was looking forward to reading this one as a quick and easy read before I took on The Brothers of Gwenydd (which I tried to read a couple of years ago and stopped after about 70 pages). It was quick and easy – but the first half was rather boring and it really was procrastination on my part that prevented me from just taking it back to the library. The second half was better, but Adelia’s captivity following her arrest became a little tiresome and I was just ready for it to be over.

If there is a fifth book in this series, I won’t be reading it. Franklin is a penname of Diana Norman who has written several historical novels. I have a couple of her older (and hard to find) books – I am hoping they are better than this.
“Men didn’t like women to have their legs apart unless they were in bed”. Adelia as she considers the uncomfortable nature of the side saddle.

“I do not think they are Christians. I think they are churchmen.” Mansur on the nature of a couple of their traveling companions.

Rating: Disappointing (2 stars)


In case the FTC asks: Thank goodness I got this one from the library!