The Papal Assassin's Wife is the 2nd book in the Papal Assassin historical thriller series by S. J. Martin. I had high expectations for the book since the first book in the series was fantastic. However, this installment of the series was seriously lacking in excitement.

The publisher's summary: It is 1088, King William the Conqueror is dead, and his two eldest sons are about to go to war for the throne of England. It is a turbulent time in Europe, and Chatillon, at the heart of it all, must decide which of William's sons the Pope should support. Should it be the eldest, Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy or William Rufus, who has already crowned himself King of England?

Piers De Chatillon, the tall, handsome master swordsman, powerful Papal envoy and assassin, has finally married the beautiful young Isabella Embriaco. He intends to turn her into a top political courtesan, assassin and spy. She will be trained to bring him valuable information by moving through the noble beds of Europe and removing those men who cause him problems. His dangerous lifestyle will repeatedly put her life at risk as she becomes a pawn in a deadly game.

Chatillon, involved in the imminent war between the two brothers, disregards the warnings of his friends to take care. They know a brutal Saracen pirate is out for revenge and will try to kill Chatillon and his new wife. Chatillon sends Isabella to Ghent on her first mission to kill an old enemy of his, not realising she is now carrying his child. Meanwhile, the Saracen assassins follow close behind her, and Chatillon is over a hundred leagues away in Normandy, too far away to save her.

I could not get myself interested in the story until Chatilllon marries. This was a good 60 pages from the beginning of the novel. Once he marries Isabella, the story became fascinating. The plot alternated between the war action that Chatillon was involved in and Isabella's love triangles. I was never able to enjoy the Chatillon subplot and skipped pages. There are alot of characters in the book, 49, so perhaps the problem was keeping up with all of them. ( )