La hermandad de la Sábana Santa
Julia Navarro
Publicado: 2004 | 358 páginas
Novela Intriga

Un incendio en la catedral de Turín, donde se venera la Sábana Santa, y la muerte en él de un hombre al que habían cortado la lengua, son los detonantes de una trepidante investigación policial del Departamento del Arte, capitaneado por el detective Marco Valoni. Junto a la perspicaz y atractiva historiadora Sofía Galloni y una periodista ávida de preguntas, el grupo de Valoni deberá resolver un enigma que arranca de los templarios y llega hasta la actualidad. Una trama que tiene como nexo de unión a una élite de hombres de negocios, cultos, refinados y muy poderosos. Los investigadores no cejarán en su empeño de demostrar que los sucesos de la catedral están conectados con la Sábana Santa y con las vicisitudes que ha vivido a lo largo de la historia, desde Jesucristo al antiguo imperio bizantino, la nueva Turquía, la Francia de Felipe el Hermoso, España, Portugal y Escocia…Con la historia y la imaginación como elementos de partida, Julia Navarro ha construido una novela que deja al lector sin aliento, que abre las puertas a un fascinante viaje por el pasado, el presente y las insospechadas relaciones entre ambos. Una narración que sorprende en cada página, una deslumbrante novela de aventuras a la altura de las mejores del género.

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I enjoyed this novel very much. It blended historical fact with the right amount of fiction to make it an interesting story.

The descriptions of the settings were excellent and I thought the characters were fleshed out well. The quality of the writing helped me overlook some of parts where I got lost a bit with the storyline.

Definitely worth reading if you enjoy the real history of the Templars blended with good fiction. ( )

Sendo este o seu primeiro romance, a escritora Julia Navarro começa cedo a habituar-nos a uma fasquia já elevada e que cresce a cada novo livro que escreve, pois a seguir a este, cada um é melhor que o outro. ( )

In this story we follow an investigation of the art crimes department in Italy, who are studying the case of the 'Sindone', the shroud of Christ. Throughout history the Sindone has often been threatened; it is now stored in Turin, where strange fires and accidents keep happening, involving men who have no tongue and no fingerprints. Alongside the story of the investigation we are given a secondary story, telling the history of the Sindone.
It turns out that two competing groups are after the Sindone, and the investigative team ends up in the middle of an ancient conflict, with disastrous results.

I enjoyed the historical parts and thought they formed a nice background to the investigation. The investigation itself also keeps you on the edge of your seat. I did guess the involvement of the different parties at quite an early stage in the book, but I still enjoyed following the investigation.
One thing I found annoying is that Navarro feels a need to give lengthy explanations in a way that breaks up the story. Often she lets the investigators tell parts of the history to each other, even if the characters both know the story already - this gives the strange effect that obviously the characters are only having that conversation for the sake of the reader. It feels very awkward and also slows the story down.
I also found the ending somewhat annoying - nothing gets resolved, and there is no real 'wrapping up'. It seems like nothing has changed and the conflict will simply go on forever, with all the investigative work having been useless. I guess that is how it works sometimes, but it left me dissatisfied. ( )