Amy B. (BaileysBooks) reviewed on 12/9/2010 + 491 more book reviews

This is Book 3 in The Mistress of the Art of Death series.

I am a very big fan of this series. I thought that the original book was a fantastic blend of forensics, medieval life, superstition, and history. The second book was almost as good as the first. This third installment was a bit of a disappointment.

The mystery and suspense that I have come to expect from a Mistress book were all present here. Perhaps what I felt lacking was the focus of the plot. The entire search for the grave of King Arthur seemed slightly hokey and a bit too contrived than is fitting for what I have come to expect from Ms. Franklin's novels and I walked away from this book without feeling very impressed.

This book did serve to move along more of the interpersonal relationships between the main characters, but even then it had the feeling of being more of an afterthought in the final pages rather than as a core element of the entire story.

In all, this was not a bad addition to the Mistress series. I simply consider it to be the weakest link in an otherwise gleaming chain of well written and imaginative mysteries.

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