Death and Misadventure - Rated 
If you haven't read the original novel by Ariana then where have you been. Fans of Crime novels have not only raved about this authors writing style but also the effortless ease with which history is seamlessly bound in without coming over like an info dump. Here we have the second novel within the series and its one that really doesn't let up the pace.
Brought from her retirement in the country where she's bringing up her young daughter, the "mistress of death" is returned to investigate the death of the King Henry II's Mistress. But the chief suspect is Henry's wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, the famed mother of Englands greatest king, Richard the Lionheart. But who's the killer, Henry or Eleanor or someone behind the scenes. A great read that will keep you glued to the last page.
The follow-up does not disappoint - Rated 
This second outing for sleuth Adelia Aguilar, 12th century pathologist, doesn't disappoint. It's bitter winter in Oxfordshire and Adelia has been dispatched to look into the murder of Fair Rosamund, favourite mistress to King Henry II. There are rumours that the murder is the work of Henry's jealous queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine; if this is true, then it may not be possible to avoid a bloody civil war, when the horrors of the last one are still fresh in the memories of England's poor.
Adelia arrives to find a second murder and others inevitably follow. The investigation of these murders is, it has to be said, perfunctory, but it matters little: Franklin's strength lies in the creation of her characters and her strong sense of place and time.
I'm looking forward to the next installment.
Second book in the Adelia Aguilar Series - Rated
First, let me warn the reader that this book is also published under the title The Serpent's Tale.
Ariana Franklin is the pseudonym of a well-known author of historical novels, Diana Norman, wife of the film critic Barry Norman. She is a former Fleet Street Reporter and lives in Hertfordshire.
I thoroughly enjoyed the author's first book The Mistress of the Art of Death, finding it well researched and very well written, so of course I was delighted when I saw the Serpent's tale in the bookshop. Sometimes in these circumstances the reader feels let down, either because the second book is not as good as the first or more likely the reader's expectations are too high. No such thing with this book, it is equally as good if not better than the first, particularly as the main character of Adelia Aguilar is now familiar to those who have read the first book.
In the first novel, Adelia initially came to England at the request of Henry I who asked his cousin the king of Sicily to send him a "Master of Death" an early version of our present medical examiner in the hope that a scientific examination would be able to exonerate the Jewish community and save them from the rioting mob who believe that the Jews sacrifice Christian children. The Italian doctor chosen for the task is a young prodigy from the University of Salerno. But her name is Adelia, the king has been sent a mistress of the art of death.
In the Serpent's Tale Henry II is now on the throne and his mistress Rosamund Clifford has died a painful death by poisoning. Henry's wife Eleanor of Aquitaine is the number one suspect. Henry feels that this could well be the start of a campaign by Eleanor to discredit him and take the throne either for herself or her son's. Civil war could soon break out and Henry needs an answer to the crime and quickly. Henry immediately sends for Adelia is Mistrress of the Art of Death, who is less than pleased to be brought from retirement in the country where she is spending a carefree life attending to the needs of her little daughter.
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