Canadian author Roe offers another intricately plotted tale (after 2002's Draught for a Dead Man
) of Isaac of Girona. The blind Jewish physician cures illnesses and solves crimes in southern Spain and Mallorca in the middle of the 14th century, when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived mostly peaceably side by side, if not together. (However, during Holy Week and immediately after Easter, residents of the call, the Jewish quarter of Girona, bar their gates and isolate themselves for their own protection.) While Isaac is treating Berenguer de Cruïlles, Bishop of Girona, a fatally poisoned man comes to warn the bishop of others' treachery. The wedding of Isaac's daughter, Racquel, must be postponed until Daniel, the bridegroom, can sail to Mallorca to learn whether a newly arrived herbalist is an imposter. Much of the book's interest lies in the way Isaac uses his knowledge of physiology and herbs, as well as his senses of smell and taste, to analyze the contents of the sometimes poisonous mixtures he encounters. Racquel and Yusuf, a Muslim student of Isaac's, also lend a hand with the detecting. Most of the narrative moves at the slow pace of the period, but Roe ends it with the heady rush her readers have come to expect. (Nov. 4)
FYI:
Roe (the pseudonym of Medora Sale) has been nominated twice for Anthony Awards.
