Finished 2/7/09:

MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH by Ariana Franklin, 2007.

Great historical fiction thriller. Concerns child murders in Cambridge, England, during the reign of Henry II; Jewish population in town is blamed, revenues to kingdom disrupted. It is King Henry who sends for a "master of the art of death" to come from Sicily to investigate. The master is actually a "mistress", Adelia Ortese Aguilar, a woman doctor who "reads" the dead; she, along with Crusader Sir Rowley Picot, Simon of Naples, and Mansur the Saracen, solve the hideous crimes and unmask the killer. Excellent period detail, well done characters, suspenseful, thrilling story. It was a real page turner for me.