I enjoyed this book. It takes place in medieval England (1191). Adelia is training her daughter Allie pathology, sleuthing and forensics to take over for her eventually. There is a mystery, Allie goes to tend a sick friend and finds that young girls have gone missing and then turning up dead later. This is number 5 in a series but is definitely a stand alone read. I would read the others in this series.

I enjoyed this historical story. This is my first book by this author and I look forward to reading more from them. This is a fast paced story that kept me turning pages to the end. I enjoyed being pulled in right from the beginning. I had no issues connecting to the characters as they brought the story to life. This is a story that takes place in 1191 and in England. Allie is a skilled healer and her mother is passing down her skills to her. What will happen when she plans to marry Allie to a man with influence. This is where the story takes on a suspenseful page turner. Will Allie use what she learner and the powers that she has to find a killer on the loose? The twists and turns made me want to know what would happen next. This is a really great story and the characters made the story easy to read. It made a great afternoon story that I highly recommend.

I wanted to like Death and the Maiden, but I just felt like there were big chunks of the book I couldn't get into. I don't know if this is because I hadn't read the previous books in the series, or because there were parts that just felt random and unrelated to what I think was the main storyline - which was young women disappearing in the Fens, where Allie goes to provide care to an old family friend. Some of the offshoots can be tied in to building out Allie's character, but the parts strictly involving her parents seem like they're only included to tie back into the previous books, which as mentioned earlier, I haven't read. There's also very little reference to Allie and Adelia's training in healing and doing the visual autopsies, and this rarely ties in to the disappearing women. The mystery is the best part of the story but it almost feels like the suspects are too obvious, constantly doing suspicious things that could make them the guilty party. I like the premise, and strong women - and maybe the earlier books just work better - but this one was just okay to me.

A lofty and atmospheric read with much more focus on finishing out character's stories rather than solving a mystery.

I hadn't read the other books in this series, so I'm coming into this read very differently; however, I know the author of this series passed and this final installment was written by her daughter. I enjoyed the complex language suitable for the time period and the great environment cast, but was hoping for more of an intriguing mystery. There was a lot of focus on closing out characters and updating the readers to their lives, which was interesting but not necessarily my favorite part of a read. It wraps up nicely, but I was hoping for some more detective-type work to get there and some more intricate clues and details along the way.

I discovered the first Mistress of the Art of Death novel shortly after it was released, and I've followed the series eagerly since then. The series author, Ariana Franklin, died in 2011, so I knew I had no hope of another title. I was grateful for what she had written and resigned that there would be no more. Now, however, there is one more novel in the series, this one written by Franklin's daughter Samantha Norman. I don't know how much of Death and the Maiden is built on material Franklin left behind and how much of it originates with Norman—whatever the balance, this title brings us one more adventure with the series' characters, who remain very much the individuals they were, despite the change in authors.

The greatest strength of Death and the Maiden is the integrity with which Norman presents these characters who originated with Franklin. Its greatest weakness is the mystery lying at the novel's heart. The mystery is solved at the novel's end, but there's little sleuthing by main characters Adelia and Allie and almost no forensic observation, which was a unique part of the series' other titles. What we get, instead is a novel that lets us see the series' older characters—particularly Adelia and Rowley—aging, and the younger—Adelia and Rowley's daughter Allie, coming into her own.

This book will be a rewarding read for those already familiar with the series, but new readers would do better to start with one of the earlier titles. I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions are my own.

While I didn't think Death and the Maiden was as well-written or as captivating as I found the earlier books in the series. I certainly found it an entertaining read. This is supposed to end of the Mistress of the Art of Death series, begun by Ariana Franklin, and I was expecting Adelia to remain the central character. Instead, her daughter Allie is the primary in this novel, having been trained to be in many ways her mother's successor. This could be read as a stand-alone, although those readers would lack an understanding of Adelia's and Rowley's relationship and, in fact, the core of the series. that Adelia was a woman performing shocking job in a time when women's lives were often quite circumspect. I didn't feel that there was any resolution to the series; rather, I think the opportunity exists for Ms. Norman to launch a new series, featuring Allie..

I loved this series and was very excited to finish the series albeit with another author. The problem is that you want to exact same voice and that was missing for me. The setting is the same with the unusual vocation of Adelia and the relationship between her and Rowley but the tone of the story felt less detailed. One of my favorite things was how Adelia got around the fact that she was an intelligent woman doing men's work and the intricate details of the autopsy or medical knowledge during the time. Putting their daughter Allie into the family business is a great way to continue the story with a different perspective. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

I really enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and I enjoyed the story itself. It's funny that I hadn't read the first books in the series but I think it really didn't harm any part of my enjoyment.

I was so excited about this book and couldn't wait to delve in. I read all of the books in the Mistress of the Art of Death series and loved them all. The idea of getting a conclusion to the series left me in great anticipation. Death and the Maiden was not at all what I was expecting however. For that reason, this review is a bit difficult to write.

Franklin's character Adelia is a spitfire. She demands her presence to be known and she's unwilling to let anything deter her from the path she has created for herself. Furthermore, her relationship with Rowley is a show stopper. Franklin let the drama that played out between them carry the reader from page to page wanting more. I had expectations for this book to carry on with that tradition. There's where I made a crucial mistake (I probably should have considered the title a bit more!). Norman changes direction and makes Allie the main protagonist. Adelia and Rowley take a backseat to the main action. Perhaps if I went into the story expecting this, I would have enjoyed the book more.

With all of that said, the plot of the story is okay. Adelia, after hurting her ankle, sends Allie to help a friend in need of medical assistance. Rowley, feeling Allie needs to find a husband, agrees to the journey with the intentions of making sure she finds a suitor at her destination. When Allie arrives at the village, a young girl has gone missing. Allie will need to use all the lessons she has been taught by Arianna to determine what is going on in the village.

Although the story was good, I felt it sort of dragged on at times and it took longer to read than I expected. While not a page turner, Death and the Maiden is still an enjoyable read. My recommendation to others is to read this as a stand alone OR go into it with no expectations in relation to the other books in the series. This may help you enjoy the book more!

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

I really wanted to love Death and the Maiden. I had read the Mistress of the Art of Death series originally, and re-read them in preparation for reading this. I was so excited about the prospect of a new book in the series!

I came away feeling a little insulted, honestly.

One of the brilliant things about the series is that you get the WHYs. I didn't get that here. I knew pretty early on who the villain was. I am not bothered by that, it happens a lot that you can pick out the rogue; however, what is usually revealed is the WHY of them being so horrible. The WHY is as much the story as the overall story itself. I thought the placed red herrings were weak, and the first chapter unnecessary. Allie is a good character and I understand why Samantha Norman focused on her as the main character, but with the other information missing from the story, Allie wasn't enough to save the book for me.

I didn't love the softening of Adelia. Because let's be honest, Adelia wasn't so old that she would have softened out of her original character. - she would have been her determined, clinical self, and she would never have not gone to Gyltha. Norman tries to reinstate that determination later in the book, but it's too late, the damage is done.

I want to thank NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishers, and authors Samantha Norman & Ariana Franklin for providing me with an ARC of this novel!

Death and the Maiden is set in England, 1191. Adelia Aguilar, Mistress of the Art of Death in England, is living happily in retirement while training her daughter, Allie, to carry on with her craft. We find that Allie is already a skilled healer, with a specific gift for treating animals. Allie is nearly twenty, and her father is ready to marry her off to an influential husband. A friend falling ill takes her path towards Cambridgeshire where she meets Lord Peverill, who would be a suitable match for the young healer. But the village is in chaos; girls are disappearing left and right. Will she find the killer or be the next victim?

This was a highly detailed and twisted thriller. I had not read the prior books, so I did find myself a little bit confused throughout (but that’s entirely my own fault). I loved the time period and the subject matter. The characters were well developed as was the story line. If you like historical fiction, you will enjoy this!

Thank you to those named above for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this novel!

The final novel in the Mistress of the Art of Death series featuring Adelia Aguilar is soon to be released. Death and the Maiden by Samantha Norman completes the series begun by her mother Diana Norman (writing as Ariana Franklin).

The first books are set during the reign of Henry II, and the main character, Adelia Aguilar is a medical doctor trained in Salerno, Italy. In the first books, her friend Mansur takes the role as doctor with Adelia as his assistant. Because she is a woman, Adelia must rely on this subterfuge in order to practice her skills: investigative, medical, and logical.

In Death and the Maiden, Adelia is older and Henry II has died, but Adelia has been training her daughter Allie to succeed her in her medical (and investigative) capacity, and it is Allie who becomes the main protagonist in this book. Adelia and Rowley make welcome appearances, but the story revolves around Allie.

When Adelia injures her ankle, Allie is allowed to go to Ely without her to care for their friend Gyltha, who is ill. As Gyltha recovers, Allie enjoys the sense of independence, but she but she is also concerned about the disappearances of several young women in the area. A handsome young lord from a neighboring estate adds a hint possible romance (which would greatly appease Rowley, who is eager to see his daughter married). But then Hawise, a young woman who has been a friend during Allie's stay, disappears and the suspense mounts.

Hopefully, Samantha Norman will take the opportunity to write further of the adventures of Allie, even if Adelia and Rowley stay a bit in the background.

Read in May. Blog review scheduled for Oct. 1, 2020

NetGalley/Harper Collins/William Morrow
Historical Mystery. Oct. 20, 2020. Print length: 416 pages.