Reviewed By: Mitchy - RAM
The Widow of Jerusalem
Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Alan Gordon
Class/Genre: Mystery Historical
Series: Theophilos
...
With the fourth book in his Jester series, Gordon continues to deliver brilliant mysteries with rich, historical backdrops.
His jester hero, Theo, on a long journey with his wife and baby daughter, recounts one of his earlier adventures set during the Crusades. It's 1191 and Richard the Lionheart has just retaken the city of Acre. Theo has been travelling with the Crusade and now meets up with Scarlet the Dwarf the head of the Guild in the Holy Land. The two of them attempt to derail Richard's crusade by "diverting" (i.e. stealing) some supplies and taking them to the city of Tyre. It's here that the adventure takes off as the two men and a band of junior assistants battle political intrigue and murder as powerful men fight for more power and territory.
Gordon's strength as a writer is that he can paint the middle ages in such detail you get drawn effortlessly into Theo's world. His descriptions of Tyre are outstanding. His style reminds me of Dorothy Dunnett, who had that exact same ability. Gordon also is careful to flesh out all the supporting characters so that they are more than just names that come and go.
One minor gripe is I'm not entirely convinced that all the loose ends got tied up in Theo's final explanations but it's possible I missed something - I ended up finishing this at 3am :)
If you haven't read Alan Gordon, I can heartily recommend him. And do. Loudly :)
Mitchy - RAM
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Mitchy - RAM
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