Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Cursed in the Blood
Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Sharan Newman
Class/Genre: Mystery Amateur Sleuth Woman Main Character Historical
Series: Catherine LeVendeur # 5
Forge, Au 1998, $23,95, 352 pp.
English loyalties are divided between Stephen and Mathilda. The impact of the civil war spills into Scotland where the English enemy is too busy infighting to bother with the increased clan violence of their northern neighbor. However, blood feuds fail to explain the deaths of Lord Waldweve's two sons and grandson.
Nobody claims credit for killing the three males. Waldweve, an abusive individual feared and hated by his family and his tenants, plans to learn who killed his flesh and blood in order to enact a painful vengeance on them. He demands Edgar return home from his self-imposed exile in France to help his family with their quest. Catherine, who has undergone many hardships to be with her beloved Edgar, refuses to desert her beloved now. They travel together to Scotland, unaware that treachery, war , and duplicity will be their constant companions.
Sharan Newman, always considered a fine writer, has surpassed her own high standard of excellence with CURSED IN THE BLOOD, a novel that is more than just the mystery that it is being categorized as. Fans of Sharon Kay Penman will want to read this book that is a keeper due to its brilliant conveyance of a colorful but tumultuous era in British history. The lead characters feel like real people allowing readers to care what happens to them. The story line is a plausible renactment of what could have happened during a civil war nestled inside a larger civil war, a unique storytelling device that makes this book a very special keeper.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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