Red Rover, Red Rover, let Kim Lenox come over!!
I’ve been tagged by Tera Lynn Childs with a cool (and easy!) meme.
Here, dear readers, is my quest:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to the person who tagged you once you’ve posted your three sentences.
Tera Lynn did this with Bennett Madison’s LULU DARK CAN SEE THROUGH WALLS. Love that title. Me, hmmmm, my nearest book is THE SYNONYM FINDER by J. I. Rodale, which I don’t think would be very fun, and besides, there are no “sentences”, so we’re going to the next closest book. I haven’t gotten to read this book yet, but I’ve been ogling it for over a month, and carrying it around in my take-everywhere bag.
Here we go!
MISTRESS OF THE ART OF DEATH
[Taken from the Penguin website:] A chilling, mesmerizing novel that combines the best of modern forensic thrillers with the detail and drama of historical fiction …
In medieval Cambridge, England, four children have been murdered. The crimes are immediately blamed on the town’s Jewish community, taken as evidence that Jews sacrifice Christian children in blasphemous ceremonies. To save them from the rioting mob, the king places the Cambridge Jews under his protection and hides them in a castle fortress. King Henry I is no friend of the Jews-or anyone, really-but he is invested in their fate. Without the taxes received from Jewish merchants, his treasuries would go bankrupt. Hoping scientific investigation will exonerate the Jews, Henry calls on his cousin the King of Sicily-whose subjects include the best medical experts in Europe-and asks for his finest “master of the art of death,” an early version of the medical examiner. The Italian doctor chosen for the task is a young prodigy from the University of Salerno. But her name is Adelia-the king has been sent a mistress of the art of death.
Adelia and her companions-Simon, a Jew, and Mansur, a Moor-travel to England to unravel the mystery of the Cambridge murders, which turn out to be the work of a serial killer, most likely one who has been on Crusade with the king. In a backward and superstitious country like England, Adelia must conceal her true identity as a doctor in order to avoid accusations of witchcraft. Along the way, she is assisted by Sir Rowley Picot, one of the king’s tax collectors, a man with a personal stake in the investigation. Rowley may be a needed friend, or the fiend for whom they are searching. As Adelia’s investigation takes her into Cambridge’s shadowy river paths and behind the closed doors of its churches and nunneries, the hunt intensifies and the killer prepares to strike again.
And here’s our meme, p. 123, fifth sentence in:
I’ll be back to supplement with the names of my tag victims later today!