Relics of the Dead

Relics of the Dead by Ariana Franklin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

1176. When fire destroys Glastonbury Abbey, two skeletons are unearthed in its grounds: one tall; one short. Could they really be the remains of Arthur and Guinevere? Henry Plantaganet sends Adelia Aguilar, Mistress of the Art of Death, to find out.
It’s an attractive proposition with a nice ensemble of characters in interesting settings, though some readers may find the slightly modern tone not entirely to their taste. Franklin herself says:

“I am sometimes criticized for making my characters use modern language…Since people then sounded contemporary to each other and, since I hate the use of what I call ‘Gadzooks’ in historical novels to denote a past age, I insist on making them sound contemporary to us.”

I know what she means. But just a little Gadzooks might have gone a long way.
The shape of story is slightly strange, with the climax coming three-quarters of the way through and the remainder of the book dedicated to explaining the historical importance of Henry II’s new laws. Since this was a completely new area to me, I was happy to go along for the ride. I’d happily read another in the series, come to that.
But that’s just my own humble opinion…what do you think? Do let me know!

View all my reviews