By Ariana Franklin
(Reviewed by Carla Hedstrom)

Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar returns, once again working for Henry II of England. This time she has been summoned back to Cambridge by her former lover, Bishop Rowley Picot, her daughter’s father. He wants her to use her postmortem skills to solve the murder of Rosamund Clifford, the king's mistress.

Suspected of masterminding her murder is the queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Rowley is frightened that if Henry and Eleanor don't know the truth of Rosamund's murder, England will once again be torn apart by war, as it was a generation earlier.

Adelia, her baby, Mansur the Saracen, and Gyltha the housekeeper find themselves snowed in at Godstow Abbey, along with the nuns who live there, Queen Eleanor and her court, and mercenary soldiers. Of course, wherever Adelia is, there are bodies. A young man was found murdered on the bridge to the abbey. Who did it? A young serving girl is found hanging in the stable. Was it suicide? Two men have been hanged on the Abbey's bridge. Why? What did they know? And, still, who murdered Rosamund?

Central to the story is the fortress in which Rosamund lived. It is surrounded by a huge maze, one covered in hedges of blackthorn. Once Adelia and Rowley find their way in, they find another mystery. The dead Rosamund is sitting at a desk, as if she died while writing the letter in front of her. After finding another copy of the letter in a different hand, Adelia knows she must discover who had written the original, one that is addressed to Eleanor, taunting her about Rosamund's relationship with Henry.

As in the first novel in this series, Mistress of the Art of Death, Adelia finds herself in danger from several sources. Will she uncover the identity of Rosamund's murderer in time to avert war? Will she survive the blizzard? Will she and Rowley declare their love for each other? It's great fun to learn the answers to these questions and more.