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Mr. Russell Eoghan Haggerty

Auteur de The Book: Potion, Pope & Perfidy

1 oeuvres 2 utilisateurs 1 Critiques

Œuvres de Mr. Russell Eoghan Haggerty

The Book: Potion, Pope & Perfidy (2012) 2 exemplaires

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This is the story of an Irish detective visiting his sister in Cincinnati, Ohio. He becomes the accidental recipient of a stolen medieval manuscript. The complex story involves a large cast of eccentric characters puzzling out the identity of the manuscript, figuring out how it ended up in the detective's possession, finding the owner, finding the thief, and finding out what makes the manuscript so intrinsically valuable, while eluding the thieves who are prepared to stop at nothing to get it back. The scene ranges in place from Cincinnati to San Francisco to the Vatican, and in time to the 1300's in Avignon, France, where the Pope was resident at that time, and to a medieval monastery atop an immense flight of rock-cut stairs up a cliff side on the west coast of Ireland.

This is a puzzle mystery, and the detective has to learn a lot of stuff about manuscripts, early book production, current-day book collecting, the medieval Papacy, and the Black Death. Not to mention ancient Greek medicine and how it was handed down from mythical times. The author conveys this lore artfully, in entertaining doses through the interactions of wide-flung characters who each know a piece of the information needed to solve the puzzle. He also uses superbly imagined historical flashbacks to the medieval Papal Court and the remote Irish monastery, as well as scenes of daily life among the townspeople of Avignon. The crooks are a pretty colorful bunch too, though totally unaware of the intrinsic significance of their theft. They are solely interested in its market value.

This is a quest story rather than a shoot 'em up action story, and the process of discovery is the plot. The characters are of interest mostly for what they bring to the search. The writing is straightforward and serviceable, and the author contributes quite a bit of humor throughout. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who likes a good conundrum, with plenty of medieval lore thrown in for good measure. And of course I recommend it to all Cincinnatians who enjoy detective stories set in their city.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
anthonywillard | Mar 14, 2013 |

Statistiques

Œuvres
1
Membres
2
Popularité
#2,183,609
Évaluation
4.0
Critiques
1
ISBN
1