Book 4 in the series, and although you could probably enjoy this book quite well if you had just started here there are plenty of references to previous events that should make you want to read them from the beginning.
This book begins with the power of the anonymous accusation. Want to get your own back on someone hundreds of years ago, denounce them for treason and they will be swiftly tortured and executed. No need for proof. Scary times. Our hero surgeon has thus been accused of colluding in a fictitious plot to poison the queen, knowing what happened to the previous person who befell this denouncement he decides it best to flee the country for a while until things settle down, and so he and his apothecary wife decide to head for her home town for a long overdue visit. But things don't go that smoothly along the way, or even once they get there.
After a brief stop in Belgium and a visit to see the horror of the triptych by Hieronymus Bosch, and the matter of a little murder, the duo pick up a travelling companion of a young Beguine as they journeyed along a well known pilgrim route. But this seemingly innocent young woman is more than she appears, she preaches apocryphal things. Our intrepid duo couldn't be rid of her soon enough, as they part ways finally.
Once in Padua we are reintroduced to the cousin of the wife, Bruno, who we met in the first book of the series as our surgeon repaired a vicious head wound. He is quite the character and is embroiled in some scheme to create an astronomical device, and has befriended none other than Galileo. But there are those who don't want this device to be created so as per usual, things don't go to plan.
Overall it is an entertaining story, but felt a little slower paced, they take a long time in the travelling to Padua, and even once there not a lot happens for a while. The ending when it comes seems a little abrupt, and disappointing in how it deals with the death of a character off screen.
This book begins with the power of the anonymous accusation. Want to get your own back on someone hundreds of years ago, denounce them for treason and they will be swiftly tortured and executed. No need for proof. Scary times. Our hero surgeon has thus been accused of colluding in a fictitious plot to poison the queen, knowing what happened to the previous person who befell this denouncement he decides it best to flee the country for a while until things settle down, and so he and his apothecary wife decide to head for her home town for a long overdue visit. But things don't go that smoothly along the way, or even once they get there.
After a brief stop in Belgium and a visit to see the horror of the triptych by Hieronymus Bosch, and the matter of a little murder, the duo pick up a travelling companion of a young Beguine as they journeyed along a well known pilgrim route. But this seemingly innocent young woman is more than she appears, she preaches apocryphal things. Our intrepid duo couldn't be rid of her soon enough, as they part ways finally.
Once in Padua we are reintroduced to the cousin of the wife, Bruno, who we met in the first book of the series as our surgeon repaired a vicious head wound. He is quite the character and is embroiled in some scheme to create an astronomical device, and has befriended none other than Galileo. But there are those who don't want this device to be created so as per usual, things don't go to plan.
Overall it is an entertaining story, but felt a little slower paced, they take a long time in the travelling to Padua, and even once there not a lot happens for a while. The ending when it comes seems a little abrupt, and disappointing in how it deals with the death of a character off screen.