Death in La Fenice by Donna Leon

Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon

This mystery practically reads like a screenplay. You can visualize each scene as you are reading. This is the first in a mystery series with Guido Brunetti as the vice-commissario of police and detective genius. And to be honest it won't be my last. I enjoyed this book. It is a quick and engrossing read. Plus the setting of story is Venice. Having recently visited Venice, it was easy for me to visualize the descriptions provided by Leon, who currently resides in Venice. Just as the author is enamored by the location, so am I. You quickly become fascinated with anything that has to do with Venice. Leon's description of the city at night, jives with my memory. Unlike other major European cities that come alive at night, Venice settles down at night, making you wonder, where did all those people go that were crowding the calli (alleyways of Venice) during the day.

Beautiful and serene Venice is a city almost devoid of crime. But that is little comfort to Maestro Helmut Wellauer, a world-renowned conductor who is poisoned one night during intermission. As Guido Brunetti, vice-commissario of police and a genius of detection, pieces together the clues, a shocking picture of depravity and revenge emerges.

As Library Journal states, "you certainly won't want to go to Italy, especially Venice, without bringing a few Donna Leon mysteries featuring Commissario Brunetti, whose love of good food and despair about corruption in Italian politics play prominent roles in every book."

So pick up Donna Leon and start following the exploits of Commissario Brunetti.

A Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin

A Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin

This is the second novel in Franklin's Mistress in the Art of Death series. The first novel, with that as its title, introduces Franklin's strong female protaganist, a Medieval forensic specialist by the name of Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar.

The first in the series, Mistress of the Art of Death, is set in the era of Henry II of England, who calls on his cousin the King of Sicily-whose subjects include the best medical experts in Europe-and asks for his finest "master of the art of death," an early version of the medical examiner, to help uncover a killer of small children in Cambridge, England. The King of Sicily sends his best "forensic pathologist", who just happens to be a young woman, Adelia Aguilar. In Medieval England, a woman doctor would never be accepted, and most likely viewed as a witch. Adelia has to travel with a male companion, Mansur, a Moor, who speaks Arabic. Adelia is able to pose as the intrepreter.

This series needs to be read in sequence, because all the main characters are introduced in Mistress of the Art of Death, and subsequently appear in The Serpent's Tale. In this sequel, King Henry II's mistress is found poisoned, and suspicion falls on his estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. The king orders Adelia, expert in the science of death, to investigate-and hopefully stave off a civil war.

The third in the series, of which I am currently engrossed is entitled, Grave Goods. While I have enjoyed all of this series, Grave Goods, really delivers the goods in terms of suspense (a page turner) and historical fiction. Franklin's Mistress of the Art of Death series is a beautiful blend of history, forensics, mystery and suspense. You could call this series, Bones in King Henry's court.
This is a relaxing, enjoyable and an engrossing series, with a great female protagonist. I would recommend investing your time in this series.