Saturday, May 5, 2012

The Borgia Mistress-Sara Poole

The Borgia Mistress


Sara Poole

St. Martin's Griffin, May 22 2012, $14.99

ISBN: 9780312609856



Rodrigo Borgia has been elected Pope Alexander VI and his son Cesare a cardinal. Realizing the threats from his enemies towards his family has exponentially increased and fearing the spread of plague, Pope Alexander moves his kin and his retinue from Rome to Viterbo, a nearby fortified town.



Amongst those relocating with the House of Borgia is the family’s Jewish poisoner Francesca Giordano who has her own issues staring with the unsolved murder of her dad, her late mom rumored to be alive, her relationship with Cesare and her addicted dependency on opium. However, Francesca has a greater concern at the moment with the sudden unexplained deaths of several staff members. Many look at the Spanish contingent traveling with them, but as the Borgia coroner Francesca has doubts because they support their kingdom’s alliance with the Borgia so she knows not to rule them out but to look elsewhere too as must find the assassin while wondering who the ultimate target is.



The third Poisoner Mysteries (see Poison and The Borgia Betrayal) is a superb twisting historical that combines a strong sense of time and place with a fabulous whodunit. Readers will enjoy the exploits of Francesca as she works several inquiries, but knows the one that matters is ending the serial killings of an insider assassin.



Harriet Klausner



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