Grave Goods

Ariana Franklin

My View: I’m committed to finishing this series this year. It’s a good thing that Franklin is a master at her plots and writing, and there is never a dull moment.

Not to mention how much I love strong, feisty female characters who don’t let love decide the course of their lives but stand up for themselves and have an identity outside of being a lover/wife and a mother.

Once again. Adelia is put through risk and life-threatening situations but her commitment to her work shines through. Her intelligence and wit are incomparable. She has a knack to make friends out of enemies and win most people over.

So when she ventures on this journey to find out the truth behind the discovered bodies, we know she would not return empty-handed.

The mystery and thrill element keeps you on tenterhooks and the reveal is nothing I would have imagined!

A riveting tale of mystery, a little bit of romance, lots of drama and action, exactly what I want in a thriller of historical fiction. Time to pick up the next in the series.

Have you read this book/ series? What did you think of it?

3.5/5 stars – Between ‘I liked it’ and ‘I loved it’.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Date Published: January 1, 2009

Synopsis:

Combining the best of modern forensic thrillers with the drama of medieval fiction, New York Times – bestselling author Ariana Franklin returns with the third title in the Mistress of the Art of Death series.

England, 1176. Beautiful, tranquil Glastonbury Abbey — one of England’s holiest sites, and believed by some to be King Arthur’s sacred Isle of Avalon — has been burned almost to the ground. The arsonist remains at large, but the fire has uncovered something even more shocking: two hidden skeletons, a man and a woman.

Are the skeletons – height and age send rumors flying – the remains those of Arthur and Guinevere? King Henry II hopes so. Struggling to put down a rebellion in Wales, where the legend of Celtic savior Arthur is particularly strong, Henry wants definitive proof that the bones are Arthur’s. If the rebels are sure that the Once and Future King will not be coming to their aid, Henry can stamp out the insurgence for good. He calls on Adelia Aguilar, Mistress of the Art of Death, to examine the bones. Henry’s summons comes not a moment too soon, for Adelia has worn out her welcome in Cambridge.

As word of her healing powers has spread, so have rumors of witchcraft. So Adelia and her household ride to Glastonbury, where the investigation into the abbey fire will be overseen by the Church authorities – in this case, the Bishop of St. Albans, who happens also to be the father of Adelia’s daughter.

About the Author

Ariana Franklin was the pen name of British writer Diana Norman. A former journalist, Norman had written several critically acclaimed biographies and historical novels. She lived in Hertfordshire, England, with her husband, the film critic Barry Norman.