Adelia Aguilar (Sleuth)

Ariana Franklin is the pen name of British author Diana Norman (pictured above). After writing a bunch of historical fiction and non-fiction, Diana turned to historical mysteries. This is when Ariana Franklin and her sleuth Adelia Aguilar were born.

Adelia Aguilar is a female pathologist living during the reign of Henry II of England. After four children are murdered in the medieval college town of Cambridge and with a religious war about to erupt between the Catholics and the Jews over the children's deaths, Henry begs his cousin, the King of Sicily, to send the best "master of the art of death" to solve the murders.

The Sicilian King sends Adelia. Since she's a woman who could easily be declared a witch in superstitious England, she is forced to act as an assistant to her true assistant and protector, Mansur, a Marsh Arab. Along the way, Adelia picks up a few travelers including Gyltha, an eel seller, and her urchin grandson, Ulf. Also, Adelia meets Sir Rowley Picot who charms Adelia and becomes very important to her. But you will have to read about it in the first book of the series Mistress of the Art of Deathto learn more about Adelia and all the interesting characters she meets in Medieval England.

The second book, The Serpent's Tale, finds Adelia trying to clear Eleanor of Aquitaine of the murder of her husband's (King Henry II) mistress, Rosamund Clifford. But instead of welcoming Adelia's help to clear her name, Eleanor promptly imprisons Adelia and her entourage in a nunnery!

After successfully resolving the murder in the second book, Adelia returns in Grave Goods. She is sent to Glastonbury after a fire has destroyed the beautiful Abbey and uncovered a pair of human skeletons. Could the skeletons possibly be King Arthur and Guinevere? Adelia must find out the truth before a Welsh rebellion threatens to topple King Henry II from the English throne.

The latest book in the series, A Murderous Procession, is released on April 1, 2010 in the US. King Henry II sends his daughter Joanna to Palermo to marry William II of Sicily. He needs someone he trusts to protect his daughter and to see her safely on her journey. Adelia is chosen for this onerous task and she doesn't like it one bit.

Ariana's books are fascinating. The historical details are interesting and at times astonishing. Ariana's grasp of the period allows us to explore the time period without feeling like we are reading a boring history text. The medical capabilities of the time are minutely explored. Ariana restricts herself to the medical knowledge that was available at the time. This helps keep the story rooted in it's time and keeps it from leaping into a fantasy world of CSI: Medieval England. Women were indeed educated as physicians in Sicily which at the time possessed the greatest medical training college in the Western World.

For readers who enjoy Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael mysteries, Ariana Franklin's Adelia Aguilar novels are sure to delight.

To learn more about Adelia Aguilar and her creator, visit Ariana Franklin's Website.