I absolutely loved the Mistress of the Art of Death series and was so saddened when Ariana Franklin passed. This book--the conclusion to the much-loved series--is the final bookend for the whole series.

In this entry, we move the plot to follow Adelia's daughter Allie. There is a mystery and there is personal development (Allie "needs" to find a husband and that makes up a large part of this plot). While this novel doesn't feel like the others, I think there's some meta-justice in it all. The novel sorts of passes the torch to Adele's daughter and, in real life, Ariana's daughter has taken up this novel and finished the series. So don't be expecting the same novel that you might have read with the first 4 in this series. But having said that, there is something cathartic and nostalgic about this entry and its being completed by Franklin's daughter. If you like this series, I think you should read it. If you haven't read the series, start with the first--you'll love it and find your way to this novel in due time.

"Death and the Maiden" left a strong impression on me, and I'm truly grateful that Franklin's daughter took the initiative to complete this series in honor of her mother, giving readers the closure they needed. While it deviates from the structure of the previous installments in the series, the change did not deter my enjoyment of the book. The writing was skillful and beautifully depicted the main character's development from the initial introduction to the final farewell.

The tension and drama that unfolded kept me on the edge of my seat. This book provided a gratifying conclusion to a series that I've truly relished. I truly appreciated the captivating setting, well-drawn characters, and the writing style, replete with anachronisms, all of which combined to make this last chapter an unexpected delight. I wholeheartedly recommend it. This is a series I can definitely see myself revisiting in the future.

A really interesting medievil mystery. I love books set in this time. I was hooked! Now I need to read the previous books!

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

A worthy addition to Norman's mother's series! It was great to be in the company of old friends again.

This book is completely out of the realm of what I typically read so I thought I would give it a try. However, I just couldn't really get into it. This is also the 5th book in a series that I did not read so that may be why I haven't connected with the characters.

3 1/2 stars

This is an interesting look at women in medicine at a time when women were hardly considered proper providers of such treatment. I like the characters once I came to know and understand them. The mystery was almost an afterthought, but it is there. I did not realize that this was the fifth book in the Mistress of the Art of Death series. I thought it was a standalone book. I didn’t find that a huge problem as every character and situation is well introduced with a bit of background.

The book gets a bit ponderous at times. There is an abundance of characters, and an overabundance of archaic and little used words. I had the feeling that the authors wrote this book with one hand on the keyboard while the other paged through a thesaurus, picking out the longest and most unfamiliar words they could find. I have a fairly broad vocabulary and don’t generally mind books that use a few unusual words – it’s a good chance to learn their meanings, but this book is beyond the pale in how many it used. I’m sure the idea was to impress the reader with the writers’ knowledge, but it failed, especially since some of those ten-dollar words originated after the historic era in which the book is set. Again, I could deal with a sprinkling of those words, but it really slows down reading when I need to constantly keep a dictionary at hand. I noted at least 79 of these words in just the first half of the book, and that doesn’t count the several I skipped over when I lost interest in figuring out their meaning.

There is reference to 1,001 Arabian Nights in that to save her life, a character buys days by telling stories. She’s been kidnapped and about to be murdered when she convinces her abductor to allow her to tell him a tale. It works well, until she makes herself the hero rather than him. Things get tense, but you never question that rescue will arrive in time to save her.

There were unbelievable things in the book. The biggest being when the woman doctor speaks of bacterial infections. She then emphasizes to young children that “. . . if you don’t want to die and you don’t want to catch it yourselves, is that you will have to make damn sure that every inch of this room is scrubbed until it squeaks.” Then, “You should all be scrubbed from head to toe, until you squeak.” This book takes place in medieval times when they’d have been much more likely to speak of humors and the devil being behind infections. I consulted a couple of dictionaries to make sure I was not mistaken about the origin of the word “bacteria.” I wasn’t. Both books agree that the word was not recorder until the mid-nineteenth century. And hygiene wasn’t a universal thing until well into, at least, the 1800s.

I had to push myself to keep reading this book until at least the middle of it. By that point, many of the characters had been dropped out of the story, and it was easier to follow their purpose. At that point, I found myself completely drawn into the action. The ending held a huge surprise.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley. I thank them for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

When I read the premise for this series, I was intrigued by the time period and also the main character. Who wouldn't want to read about a character with the title "Mistress of the Art of Death?!" :-) While this is the last book in the series, I found it easy to start with this one and immerse myself in Norman England. I am sure that it would have been an even more enjoyable reading experience if I'd read the series from the beginning but I don't think it was critical and felt this read like a standalone.

It was a good introduction to the series (at least, for me) and made me want to go back and read the first four. I felt that having Adelia's daughter Allie serve as the protagonist for this final offering in the series was a fitting way to end it. It seemed to be the perfect choice to me, given the fact that the author's daughter is the one who wrote this one. It felt to me like a nod to carrying on the story with the next generation and I liked that idea quite a bit. I'm sure that fans of the series will be left satisfied by how it ends.

To me, the mystery part of the story took longer to emerge than expected. It was more of a slow build and perhaps this is where having the backstories of some of the characters might have helped draw me in a bit more earlier on. It read more like a historical fiction novel than a historical mystery at first, but I enjoyed the time period and characters. The mystery element was worth the wait and the story's pacing picked up for me once it took center stage.

Many thanks to William Morrow and Scene fo the Crime's Early Read Program for the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy via NetGalley!

England 1191, Richard is off fighting in the Crusades, John is gathering allies to take the crown and causing upheavels throughout the land. And at Wolvercote Manor, Lady Emma is entertaining Adelia, the healer and daughter, Allie, when Lady Penda arrives from Elsford in the Fens, to bring back Adelia to help her sister Gyltha. Adelia, herself is injured and so sends Allie.
Upon arrival, she ministers to Gyltha and she learns that there are girls missing from the area. When one turns up dead, presumed drowned but Allie realizes that it was murder.
An intriguing story line in the continuation of a series. This time her father is hopeful of Allie's marrying and a romance seems to be in the offing. But when Hawise goes missing, Allie can only think of how to save her friend.
Thank you Harper Collins and NetGalley for this e-copy of "Death and the Maiden".

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for an early reader copy!

Strange things are happening in the Fens, once home for healer Adelia Aguilar. Now Adelia is in retirement, and rarely visits, until she gets an urgent message that a dear friend is deathly ill. Unfortunately Adelia can't go, as she is injured, so she sends her daughter Allie, a healer in her own right, in her place. Allie is looking forward to using her skills to heal Gyltha, who she finds in terrible shape when she arrives in the village of Ely. But strange things are happening, as first one girl, and then another disappears. And then, weeks later, the bodies begin to appear....

At home, Allie's parents want to ensure her safety and prosperity by finding her a suitable husband. But healers are oftentimes considered witches, and finding just the right match will be challenging. Add to that the fact that Allie is truly not interested in marriage and what is a good medieval parent to do! Is it possible that handsome and charming Lord Peverill might just be the one?

Using both her healing arts and investigative abilities Allie digs into finding out what has happened to the girls and who is behind their disappearance and murder. But the closer she gets, the more danger she is in of being the next victim...

Death and the Maiden is the perfect finish to the Mistress of the Art of Death series. Like mocha frosting on chocolate cake, Norman and Franklin draw us in to the tantalizing mystery, and then sneakily misdirects us to the many possible suspects. It's a must read!

The Mistress of the Art of Death series is one of my all-time favorites and I literally screamed when I found out I had the opportunity to get an ARC. In the week leading up to the ARC being available, I reread the whole series since it had been so long since that A Murderous Procession was published and all I really remembered was it ended on the cliffhanger of Rowley being in the verge of death. I think rereading the series was a disservice to this book because there were so many minor things I found fault with. I immediately started the ARC, knowing that the original author’s daughter was the author of this book. I realized from the synopsis that Adelia was not going to be the main character, but I did expect her full name was going to be correct, especially because it had significance. I let go a few other discrepancies because I knew the author was different, but I could not let go dropping Vesuvia as Adelia’s first name in favor of her second middle name, Rachel. I kept reading until a minor character had the same name as the killer in the first book. At that point I decided to set the ARC aside until the book went to print as I had preordered it before I had the opportunity for the ARC. Now I wish I had kept reading so I could have let the publisher know the glaring error of Adelia’s name and the other minor details that could have been fixed, because none of my issues were fixed before the book went to print. I guess I thought someone else would notice them, especially the name!

Those early issues aside I did like the book. For the most part this book followed in the same vein as the other books in the series. I am glad the cliffhanger was resolved very early and in fact in some versions of the synopsis. The book still draws you right into the time period just like the rest of the series. The book keeps you guessing “whodunit” while making all the characters seem so real. I liked who Allie has grown up to be and that the book brings full circle all the main characters in the original series. Gyltha and Ulf stayed absolutely true to their characters and Hawise was obviously a product of them. Both the character development and how true the original characters stayed were high points in this book.

I liked the mystery for the most part. This book did kind of follow the same formula of the first in the series, which was a little off putting. But again, that may have been me doing the book a disservice by rereading the entire series before reading this one. My main reason for rating this book 3 stars instead of 4 was how quick it was wrapped up. It went against the grain of the series and I expected more out of it. It was by no means a cliffhanger, but there were so many unknowns that I am not used to in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow and Harper Collins Publishing, The Scene of the Crime group, and Samantha Norman for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair & honest review. I enjoyed the book & am thankful for an end to a beloved series after the author’s mother’s death.

Death and the Maiden is the final volume in the Mistress of the Art of Death books, authored by Samantha Norman, the daughter of the author of the four previous novels in the series. In 1191 Adelaide, known as the mistress of the art of death has retired and is training her daughter Allie to carry on her forensic work to catch murderers. Her father, however, wants to marry her off. When a friend falls ill in the Fens, Allie is sent to help her. While there she meets Lord Peverill who would be a suitable match for her. Several village girls have disappeared in the past few months and some have been discovered dead in the river. Allie suspects murder by a predator and starts an investigation. Suspense rises until the culprit is revealed. I may have enjoyed this novel more if I had read the others in the series. I found some of it slow-going and confusing, although I did guess the perpetrator before the end. This is not my favorite historical era, but the author does a good job with the setting. I would recommend this for readers who enjoyed the other titles in the series.

This is the final book in a series, and I have to admit that I haven't read the earlier books.. Yet. The midieval mystery was well written and plotted but did lack the pacing I felt it needed. There were too many slow parts that bogged down the book as a whole. I didn't dislike it at all - it just didn't grab my attention as I hoped that it would. If you've read the earlier books in the series and enjoyed them, I believe this one will be much more enjoyable for you. #DeathandtheMaiden #WilliamMorrow #SceneoftheCrime #NetGalley

Thank you William Morrow and Netgalley for access to this arc.


It was delightful to see so many old character friends again. Unfortunately a few have died and one has taken the cross but most are still around even if only for brief scenes. As this book is intended to wrap up the series, the little recap snippets here and there help and were appreciated. Yet since the previous one ended with so many questions, I had hoped for a few more answers. What happened to Adelia’s adopted parents? How did they all make the perilous journey back to England with Rowley so gravely wounded? What have Adelia and Allie been doing in the intervening years?

I liked Allie. She’s smart, she’s independent, she’s desperate to use her medical skills though aware that she must be cautious as her mother was in order to sidestep any whispers of magic. Alas with Mansur now dead, there is no one to act as Adelia’s medical “beard” anymore nor will there be much protection for Allie once her powerful father is no longer there. As a father, Rowley worries and agonizes over what will happen to her in the years to come. A good marriage will give Allie security and keep her from being the king’s pawn to marry off as he wills.

In Lady Penda, Allie finds an intriguing woman who runs her own life, on her own terms, and who has – shockingly – never been married at all. Allie knows there is something in Penda’s past that is being kept hidden, something that happened during the Anarchy when Stephen’s and Matilda’s armies slogged across England and God and his saints slept. The little scenes of Rowley trying to aid in aborting another civil war due to the actions of Bishop Longchamps as well as Prince John’s ambitions could have taken a larger role in the story but I appreciate the view of how the actions of the great are once again causing grief and fear among the little people. Since Henry II isn’t there to chew on scenery, his widowed Queen stands in nicely as she shows that she still has her finger on the pulse of power.

Most of the story though is taken up by the horrific threat hanging over the heads of the young women of the area and Allie fighting her boredom. As I said, I like Allie, she bravely takes a major role in helping catch the killer but she’s not her mother. She has a bit more growing up to do which maybe the events of the story help her do. One character I did like is the last young woman who is kidnapped who, through her own efforts, staves off death and then points the finger and gains closure.

The opportunity to catch up on these characters is what brought me here. The historic feel of the story, the Fens of Cambridgeshire – almost a character in and of themselves – and watching a young woman be brave in the face of death – almost like Scheherazade – are what kept me here. That being said, I do wish that Allie had been given more actual investigation and sleuthing and a bit less time sighing about how bored she was. B

I loved the Mistress of the Art of Death books and so I was excited to see that Ariana Franklin's daughter had written another book in the series. I thought her choice to let a few years lapse and shift the protagonist to Adelia's daughter Allie was a good one. This book features an exciting mystery, was fairly evocative as to time and place (although not quite so stellar in this aspect as I remember the earlier books being), and strong characters. I feel like the pace was just slightly too slow -- there were bits where the book seemed to drag a little. I hope Norman will carry on with the series. It has a lot of promise.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.

The third in this series finds the Mistress of Death sending her daughter to take her place to minister to Goytha her beloved friend who has fallen ill in the Ferns . The Ferns is a place of mystery and now unexplained missing young girls, who have later been found murdered and left out in the open. These deaths have heightened the tension young Allie finds when she returns to this place that was home to her and her mother in her early years. Adelia’s dealing with an injury , a broken ankle and this keeps her away while her daughter deals with the intrigue of court life. It is a fine line , she finds learning to temper her craft of healing and not fall into the trap of ignorance and distrust. All the while the newest to go missing is too close to home and provides the setting for a revenge tableaux fit for a queen.

In 2007, Ariana Franklin introduced Adelia Aguilar in Mistress of the Art of Death, an outstanding historical mystery. Several other novels in the series were completed before her death. Death and the Maiden is the final installment in this series written by her daughter Samantha Norman, who had collaborated on the for former novel in the series. From the opening pages, you are drawn back to 1191 and the world of Adelia Aguilar.

Now retired, Adelia has trained her daughter Allie in the healing use of herbs and anatomy. When she is called on to attend an old friend in failing health in Ely, it is Allie who volunteers to go. Adelia had suffered an injury and while she is reluctant to have her daughter travel to the fens, the prospect of meeting the eligible Lord Peverell convinces Allie’s father that she should go. From the moment that Allie arrives she has the feeling that something is wrong. Several girls have disappeared from the surrounding villages. When the body of one of the girls is found, Allie discovers marks that suggest murder but local authorities insist that it was an accidental drowning. When Hawise, one of the girls from the local village, disappears Allie becomes involved in the search for her. Hawise was a popular worker at the castle and had befriended Allie when she arrived and as time passes she is afraid that Hawise will be the next to die. Adelia and Allie’s father, the Bishop of St. Albans, had never married and Allie rejects the idea of an arranged marriage. When she accidentally meets Lord Peverell she feels a connection and begins to reconsider the idea of marriage, but her first concern is identifying the murderer and finding her friend.

Samantha Norman beautifully captures England in the days of Eleanor of Aquitaine and the influence of the bishops in politics and the lives of the villagers. It is a time of superstition and the fears of being condemned for witchcraft. Her characters and descriptions of the fens bring her story to life. This is a story that I highly recommend for historical fiction and mystery fans alike. I would like to thank. EtGalley and Harper Collins Publishing for providing this book for my review.

Terror in the Fens of medieval times!

Young maidens are missing and drowned in the Fens of 1191. No one in authority is putting things together. The Fens! Truly some of my favorite medieval mysteries have been set here!
Adelia Aguilar is not the woman I remembered her to be. Admittedly she is now older and retired, but still as oblivious and yet at the same time as frenetic as usual.
Adelia has been training her daughter Allie in her craft, so when the call comes for help with an old friend's illness, she reluctantly sends Allie to Ely. Partly at the urging of Allie's father and her love, Rowley, Bishop of Saint Albans. He is worried about Allie's future and that she won't have the protection of a patron like Adelia did. (Of course the ugly spectre of healers being accused of witchcraft stands in the background)
One of the most interesting characters is Lady Penda of Elsford with her wolf cloak and skill with the bow. What we learn about her towards the end speaks for itself.
One interesting part of the piece was the Interdict imposed by the Bishop and the dire effect that has on innocent communities. As Father Edwards explains to his flock, it's an “order of the bishop of Ely ... that, henceforth, I am no longer allowed to celebrate mass or perform the viaticum, or, I fear, offer sepulture [burial] in this churchyard . . .” This is a massive punishment with all sorts of consequences for the faithful.
I had wondered about the culprit and wasn't surprised when my thoughts bore fruit. Still the getting to who was committing these awful crimes had a few likely contenders tossed in, so I was kept guessing almost to the end.
Ariana Franklin was one of my favorite medieval mystery writers. Unfortunately she died in 2011. I was excited to see this novel by her daughter finishing out the series.
It's an intriguing read, somewhat missing the cut and thrust of personalities I was looking for, or maybe that I had been used to. Despite this, a sterling read!

A HarperCollins ARC via NetGalley
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Death and the Maiden by Samantha Norman & Ariana Franklin (Mistress in the Art of Death #5) 3.5 stars

It has been 10 years since the last Mistress of the Art of Death book - A Murderous Procession, where we find Rowley and Adelia escorting Henry II daughter to her new home. At the end of that book we have Rowley gravely wounded and Adelia trying to keep him alive while making their way back to England.

This book was written by Samantha Norman based on notes left by her mother, Ariana Franklin. It is set many years after "A Murderous Procession. Adelia's daughter, Allie is the focus of the this novel. Allie is now grown and eligible to marry. Adelia is passing on her knowledge of medicine and what passes as forensics in the Middle Ages. A messenger arrives from the Fens with news that a friend is gravely ill. Adelia is temporarily handicapped and Allie goes in her stead. The messenger, Lady Penda is a character from "The Siege Winter" (2015). While Allie is healing the ill, she hears that there have been mysterious disappearances of pretty young girls in recent years. Allie gets involved with solving this mystery when a friend disappears.

This is a historical mystery set during the reign of Richard I. I wanted to love this book, but I just found it to mildly enjoyable. The book was slow in parts and it lacked some of passion and intrigue found earlier in the series. The ending was great, but the journey was a bit tedious.

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishing/William Morrow for this ARC.

I have read all of the books in the series and enjoyed this look at what is supposed to be the final title. I think it is easier to follow if you have read all of the books in the series and in order. Strong points: fast-paced chapters, detailed characterizations and world-building, and re-acquaintance with interesting characters from earlier works in the series. Weak points: the book dragged a bit in the early chapters, it took a while to get to the mystery, there was very little actual investigation of the mystery, and no resolution of why the killer acted as he/she did. I planned to give this book four stars, but reading my review am torn between three and four. #deathandthemaiden