Death Comes as Epiphany

A young novitiate's life is forever altered when a body literally falls into her path. Catherine LeVendeur has never wanted more than to devote her life to God and study. However, she is sent from her convent by the famous Heloise to investigate the defacing of psalter, which they suspect may be used against their convent's founder and Heloise's former lover, Abelard. While out in the world, Catherine is pulled into more and darker mysteries as well as some family drama. The character's are believable and the setting is seamless, due to the author's education in medieval history. The author's inclusion of famous people from the time period is not contrived, nor is the author's inclusion of historical detail. In fact, both serve to show more further the authenticity of the book. There are some minor flaws, but the book is highly enjoyable and starts a series of ten. show less

It’s late 1139, and Catherine LeVendeur is a novice in the convent of the Paraclete, whose abbess, Heloise, is the former lover of Abelard. A psalter has disappeared from the convent, one that could severely damage the already-damaged Abelard, and Heloise sends Catherine away from the convent, ostensibly in disgrace for misbehavior, to get the book back. But at the Abbey of Saint Denis, a stone mason literally falls dead, and it’s up to the intrepid Catherine to figure out, using her wits, what happened.

The historical detail is quite good. I understand that the author has a PhD in medieval history, and she definitely shows it off a bit. Those who aren’t well versed in medieval history might find themselves wishing that the book show more provided a glossary of terms; the author continually uses words and phrases like bliaut (a women's loose-fitting overgarment), aversier, bricon (rascal), chainse (a linen chemise), gaufre (waffles), braies (an undergarment tied at the waist) awaeris thu, and mesel (a leper). There’s also a fair amount of Latin that's used in this book. Still, this is the kind of historical verisimilitude that I look for in a historical novel.

But I liked the story; it’s mostly original (though there are one or two things that are a bit predictable), and it moves at a relatively fast pace. The main character is spunky, and the relationship between herself and Edgar, the English stone carver, held my interest throughout. I also enjoyed how philosophy and reason are interwoven throughout the story, contrasting them with sheer, blind faith, and I enjoyed watching Catherine use her wits in order to figure out what happened to the psalter. The addition of real historical figures didn’t weigh heavily on the story or feel too contrived, either. I look forward to reading what’s next for Catherine LeVendeur. show less

I never thought I'd find a mystery set in the Medieval era that would be so plainly boring, but I have. And it wasn't just boring, it was painfully bad.

The main character is naive and full of bad choices, even though she's supposed to pass as oh! so intelligent and oh! so ahead of her times. However, in every interaction of hers, she comes across as docile, avoiding conflict with all those who plainly tell her they have the right to control her choices and her life. Her relatives, from her parents to her sister, her uncle, her brother, everyone is a complete boring brute. The only character who is remotely acceptable is Edgar. The mystery itself is not interesting at all, the twists are laughable, and I am pretty certain that the show more dialogue is far from the way in which French people of the era used to talk. It was outrageous to come across so many modern idioms, it was cringe-worthy.

The only elements that kept me reading until the end were Eloise and Abelárd's presence and the descriptions of Medieval France. I had high expectations for this novel, judging by the reviews, but I suppose it wasn't for me. It goes without saying that I will not attempt to start the following installments in the series. show less

Catherine LeVendeur is a novice nun who, while devoted to God, is more interested in the fact that living in a convent allows her to study and learn. When a psalter she helped write is defiled, the abbess sends her home to discover the vandal. In the midst of this she is swept up in a mystery of murder, theft, and vanity, as well as a timid budding romance with a secretive man. I enjoyed this one, which surprised me a little since I'm not much of a mystery reader, but I think what fascinated me most was the detailed description of life in the 12th century. It was very different from now, and it takes a talented writer to convincingly portray such characters without showing them in a modern light. Sure, perhaps Catherine herself is more show more progressive than was likely for a woman of those years, but she is engaging enough that one can overlook it. I may have to look up some other Newman books. show less

An engrossing plot, charming heroine and intriguing historical details. The main characters were well-drawn and likeable, and the use of Heloise and Abelard did not seem ponderous or contrived (as use of historical personages in fiction sometimes does.) I liked the thorough depiction of the culture, especially the way people's belief in the supernatural was pervasive and convincing.

My only quibble was with the occasional forays into the perspective of secondary characters. I felt it added little to the story while sacrificing some of the mystery. A small quibble: I'll definitely be reading more of these.

Note on the audiobook: The narrator was great. Her voices varied, she read dramatically but not bombastically, and her Francophone show more pronunciation of names added to the atmosphere. show less

This struck me as a book the author really enjoyed writing. The dialogue and character reactions are occasionally melodramatic but also often deliberately funny (the last few lines of the book made me laugh aloud).

One nice thing about this book (and the sequel, so far) is that the murder is not the sole focus; other storylines and relationships get more development than I'm used to in mysteries, meaning that the mystery development gets stale less quickly. I suspect this will be a boon for the series as a whole, if the same continues to be true.

The writing style is sometimes distracting, which is a big part of why I didn't rate the book higher; for example, the main character holds conversations with voices in her head that don't serve show more much of a purpose. I felt like some of the conflicts were resolved too quickly and too easily. Nonetheless, as my note about the sequel indicates, I'm already reading the next book, and I'm looking for the others. This was a fun and promising start to the series. show less

It's a murder mystery, historical novel (12th Century France), romance and thriller all rolled into one. However, the medieval setting gives the book a mood and tone that will never be found in a modern mystery-romance-thriller novel. It helps for the reader to be familiar with the story of Abélard and Héloïse before reading this book. Otherwise, you'll miss the significance of some things in the book.

One twist to this story I found noteworthy; The body of the murdered victim literally falls down on top of the story's heroine while she's walking across a courtyard at night. Talk about a mystery being thrust upon you! She had no choice but to become a 12th Century sleuth and try to solve the mystery. She has several more narrow show more escapes before the story finally reaches a conclusion. I think the ending will not be anticipated by most readers.

This book is first in a series of ten books in the Catherine LeVendeur series written by Sharan Newman. I had previously read the sixth book in the series, and I decided I needed to read the first one to get a better understanding of the characters. I'm not sure I'll have time to read all the books in the series anytime soon. A complete list of the books in this series is listed at the following web address:
http://www.sharannewman.com/levendeur/index.html

I noticed that the author has written an errata that acknoledges and explains some historical inaccuracies in the book. If you go to the above web site, scroll down to this book, and then click on the word "errata," you will go to a full explanation of mistakes made. Only a well trained scholar of medieval history would care about the level of detail that she explains there. The story is fictional, but what we're talking about here are details contained in the story that don't fit into 12th Century life. No movie producer has ever worried about this sort of problem.

Speaking of historical details, this book has details that the most creative writer of fiction would never dream up. Apparently dried moss was used then (at least by some) for toilet paper. Who would have known such a thing. I can just image the author with this tidbit of historical trivia trying to find a place in the story to mention it.

Here's my favorite quote from the book:
"Catherine Le Vendeur," he asked sententiously, "have you known this man carnally?"
"No father," Catherine answered. "But, with your kind permission, I would very much like to."

Now that is the level of sexual explicitness that I can feel comfortable with. show less