A Mortal Bane: Library Edition

Rating:
Summary: A Mortal Bane
Review: A great read opening us into another world.
It reminds me in many ways of the BROTHER CADFAEL Chronicles by Ellis Peters ( my all-time favourite books)
These too are set in the first 1/2 of the 12th century ( though in Shrewsbury not London)
The historical background is wonderful without becoming tiresome and a clever tale not only intriques but allows us a window into a previous ( and unremittingly harsh) age. No electricity, heat, light, cars, buses, fast-food then.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful visit to Medieval London
Review: A MORTAL BANE by Roberta Gellis, set in 12th century Southwark, just south of the Thames opposite London, opens with the discovery of a body on a church porch by a blind prostitute who works from a house nearby. Of course the women of the house are accused of the murder of the stranger, and Magdalene and her women, and Sir Bellamy, the Bishop of Winchester's man, eventually do find the murderer. In the meantime, we are treated to a feel for the life of medieval London, as well as a taste of the convoluted history of the time. Ms. Gellis is another of the cross-over writers. She has written historical fantasy and romance, and now we can welcome her to the mystery genre. A MORTAL BANE brings a small part of London in 1139 to life.

Rating:
Summary: VINTAGE GELLIS!!!!!!!!!
Review: Being a long time fan of Roberta Gellis, I will read anything, absolutely anything with her name on it. I have been looking forward to a new Gellis for a long, long time and this is Gellis at her best. No one writes historical like Gellis.

Her in depth analysis of history and its impact on the lives of her characters is masterly. With sparkling flashes of wit and convoluted plot this book is a definite keeper. The sparks between Magdalene and Bell are subtle nuances at this point, but are very real and of course there are some conflicts to be resolved, but Ms. Gellis lays a good solid foundation for the explosion to come. As in real life the romance is sometimes secondary to the life and times of her characters but the essence is there and ready to build to a crescendo in the subsequent books in this series. Thank you Roberta for a wonderful read!!!! Can't wait for the next installment.

Rating:
Summary: Masterful medieval mystery - ten star quality!
Review: Being a mystery buff rather than a romance reader, I'd never heard of Roberta Gellis before picking up A Mortal Bane.

What a find! In A Mortal Bane Gellis has created a medieval world so vivid that it nudges up against Cadfael territory. The mystery aspect was well-plotted and wove the endlessly fascinating themes of greed and ambition into the pervasive religiousity of the 12th century. It was so well-crafted I immediately re-read it to catch what I'd missed the first time.

What Gellis achieves so masterfully, though, is a coterie a characters that have enough dimension to bring them beguilingly to life, most particularly Magdalene, the heroine. Gellis took on the unappealing figure of a prostitute/madam - and deftly turned her into a warm, rich, vulnerable, and thoroughly likable woman. Quite a feat.

Roberta Gellis is a remarkable writer and I hope to see A Mortal Bane developed into a series. In the meanwhile, I'll just have to slip over to the romance aisle and see if I can't find more of her.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: No one can bring you into a time period better than Roberta Gellis. It's also very interesting that the people she writes about are average folks, so the reader gets a feel for daily life of the time period. Interesting characters and a good old-fashioned murder mystery make this good reading. The only reason this book didn't get 5 stars is Gellis sometimes gets a tad bogged down in speculative conversations about politics of the time. It's hard to follow, with the people being discussed not actual characters in the book, they just are spoken of. Sometimes referred to by their names, sometimes by their titles. Gellis obviously finds the minutia of the politics of the time fascinating, but for the average reader with only basic background knowledge, it can be just plain confusing. Fortunately, she only falls into this trap 3 times and soon enough we get back to Magdelene and her would-be lover Bell. I can't wait for the next book in the series to find out what happens between them next.

Rating:
Summary: Murder in the Middle Ages
Review: No one writes about the middle ages with the confidence of Roberta Gellis. In this book, the women of a high-class whorehouse are imperiled when a messenger from the pope is killed on the doorstep of the Church next door. They must find the killer or medieval views on the evilness of whores will see them hung. Gellis' book gives us a clear, unsentimental window into the workings of the world as it was -- without detracting from the charisma of her characters. The noble born whoremistress, the knight who serves the Bishop of Winchester, and even the nasty-but-holy pryor from the church next door fill this tale with color. And it's a darn good mystery, too.