Strong As Death

Rating:
Summary: a visit to St. James
Review: Although this book goes on a bit too long, the finely wrought detail about life in the middle ages makes the read worthwhile. As a murder mystery, Strong as Death is fairly easy to decipher. But as other Amazon reviewers have explained so well, Sharan Newman's forte lies in her ability to convey the atmosphere and ambience of everyday life in the 12th century. Her characterization of myriad individuals, nationalities, religions, professions, and relationships is sensitive and credible. Her treatment of the ever present conflict between Jews, Christians, and Muslims appears fair and balanced. Newman's prose style is flowing and enables the reader to become immersed right from the start. Well-worth a look.

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Summary: For Love is Strong as Death; jealousy is cruel as the grave.
Review: As fourth in the series of the Catherine LeVendeur mysteries, it is the least typical in setting and theme. The adventures along the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compestela in Spain from Catherine and Edgar's home in France are fascinating historically aside from the 'mystery' of the dying crusaders. The complexity of interpersonal relationships is stronger here than in the first three books, showing both the authors development, and the development of the characters. To fully understand the character's motivations, I would highly recommend reading the first three books in this series first (Death Comes as an Epiphany, The Devil's Door, and The Wandering Arm).

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Summary: Believable hero and heroine, 12th century France and Spain
Review: I discovered this series a while back, with the second book DEVIL'S DOOR (in which the hero and heroine are married, and in which one Walter de Grancy, later to play a part in THE DIFFICULT SAINT) also makes an appearance. After reading the first two books, I wandered off to other series, notably those by Margaret Frazer (the Sister Frevisse series, set in England of the 1400s). My love affair with medieval historical mysteries began with Ellis Peters, however, and in terms of the attitudes and the depth of historical research, Sharan Newman's series comes closest.

STRONG AS DEATH is a later story, and *not* one I recommend that beginners to the series should start with. [Try the first book DEATH COMES AS EPIPHANY, or the second DEVIL'S DOOR]. However, this is a fascinating book in many ways, in that it sheds light not only on the complex Christian-Jewish relations existing in 12th century France, but also the further complications of the war against the Moors (or Saracens) in Spain.

Strong as Death is one of those books that is a bit hard to evaluate. As a depiction of a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela (the shrine of St James, and one which continues to be one of the holiest pilgrimage shrines), this book is indeed masterly. As a depiction of the married life of Edgar and Catherine (both with their own "baggage"), this book is also masterly. I have never felt their love more, than when realizing that Edgar must conquer his fear of heights - which I share - and that Catherine must learn how to address this fear sensitively (when she is anything but afraid of climbing). And the pilgrimage involves a trip through the Pyrenees, quite apart from any other adventures.

Where the book fails for me is is in the motivation of the murderer. I am afraid that this was a little harder to believe in, although the reason for the crime became transparent to me shortly. [The motivation was not such a shocker, as it was in DEVIL'S DOOR, for example]. I also found the way in which the murderer and the final victim(s) confronted each other to be slightly less credible than I would have wished - although it was in keeping with the murderer's previous actions.

Nevertheless, for the beautiful descriptions of the pilgrimage journey alone, this book is a keeper, to be put up right next to Ellis Peter's THE VIRGIN IN THE ICE. If you love this period - 12th century France and Spain - this book is highly recommended for its insights into the medieval mind and its vignettes of daily life. I look forward to more of Catherine LeVendeur.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best medieval murder mysteries I've ever read!
Review: I've read many medieval murder mysteries, and I found this one in particular and all the Catherine LeVendeur novels especially compelling. The detail is so rich that you begin almost to smell the smells and hear the sounds of the middle ages. The protagonists are not just modern-day people plunked into a medieval setting--they think like medievals. And they transport the reader as effectively as any characters can to a very different time and place. Not only is this a must read, it's a must read again and again. Sharan Newman should quit her day job and write full time. Her research is meticulous and pays off in an amazing array of rich and compelling detail. Read this book

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Summary: A True Picture of 12 Century Pilgrimmages
Review: Ms. Newman's incredible research that she puts into each book screams out from this one. Even before I read her afterword, where she said she went the way of this pilgrimmage as part of her research, I thought that she had. There is such a wealth of detail in each of her books. Her characters too are very real, and there is a lot of character development in this particular book. In this book Catherine and her Edgar set out on a pilgrimmage to St. James tomb in Spain. They hook up with a bunch of fellow pilgrims and stay with that group for the duration. Catherine's father, uncle and cousin are also part of the group. Along the way, death seems to be following a certain group of elderly knights, and it's up to Catherine and Edgar to determine who among them is killing off these old men in such bizarre and violent ways. And why these men? This is certainly a motley crew of pilgrims, and the reader really gets to know them in this story. A cracker!

Rating:
Summary: A True Picture of 12 Century Pilgrimmages
Review: Ms. Newman's incredible research that she puts into each book screams out from this one. Even before I read her afterword, where she said she went the way of this pilgrimmage as part of her research, I thought that she had. There is such a wealth of detail in each of her books. Her characters too are very real, and there is a lot of character development in this particular book. In this book Catherine and her Edgar set out on a pilgrimmage to St. James tomb in Spain. They hook up with a bunch of fellow pilgrims and stay with that group for the duration. Catherine's father, uncle and cousin are also part of the group. Along the way, death seems to be following a certain group of elderly knights, and it's up to Catherine and Edgar to determine who among them is killing off these old men in such bizarre and violent ways. And why these men? This is certainly a motley crew of pilgrims, and the reader really gets to know them in this story. A cracker!

Rating:
Summary: Fourth entry in an outstanding series
Review: There are many politically correct things about this series, not the least of which is that it provides a strong and well researched picture of womens' lives in the 12th Century. Far more important though, IMHO, is that this series is both illuminating and entertaining. This book provides insights on the pilgrimage experience, something often referred to in other stories but rarely described in detail. It also continues the series' complex telling of the relations between Christians and Jews at a time when church and state are virtually identical.

All of this happens in the midst of the evolving relationship of Catherine, her husband Edgar and Catherine's extended family. Then just to make things interestings, their traveling companions start to die at regular intervals. It's a cozy in the sense that the murderer must be part of the traveling party and the gore is pretty minimal. Still, as the layers are unveiled war, politics, religion, abuse and a whole host of other factors come into play.

Bottom-line: A very good read for fans of historical fiction. This is a series that is well worth reading in order to best understand Catherine and Edgar. It starts with Death Comes as Epiphany, winner of the McCavity for best first novel for 1993.

Rating:
Summary: Fourth entry in an outstanding series
Review: There are many politically correct things about this series, not the least of which is that it provides a strong and well researched picture of womens' lives in the 12th Century. Far more important though, IMHO, is that this series is both illuminating and entertaining. This book provides insights on the pilgrimage experience, something often referred to in other stories but rarely described in detail. It also continues the series' complex telling of the relations between Christians and Jews at a time when church and state are virtually identical.

All of this happens in the midst of the evolving relationship of Catherine, her husband Edgar and Catherine's extended family. Then just to make things interestings, their traveling companions start to die at regular intervals. It's a cozy in the sense that the murderer must be part of the traveling party and the gore is pretty minimal. Still, as the layers are unveiled war, politics, religion, abuse and a whole host of other factors come into play.

Bottom-line: A very good read for fans of historical fiction. This is a series that is well worth reading in order to best understand Catherine and Edgar. It starts with Death Comes as Epiphany, winner of the McCavity for best first novel for 1993.