by Boomert - The Janna Mysteries#1: Rosemary for Remembrance by Felicity Pulman 16 Jan 2010

The Janna Mysteries #1: Rosemary for Remembrance (Felicity Pulman, Random House, $19.95 pb, ISBN 0759320349, March) ****

The first of a new series by Pulman, author of the successful ‘Shalott’ novels, again uses a medieval English setting. However, this time there is no time travel or courtly love involved: it is firmly grounded in the conflicts, power relationships and beliefs of the 1140s, adding realism to the murder mystery. Teenager Janna and her mother Eadgyth, a healer, are increasingly isolated. Not only is there professional jealousy from a midwife and a pompous but unskilled apothecary, but Eadgyth has also offended the local priest, who inflames rumours of witchcraft. When Eadgyth dies suddenly while tending noblewoman Dame Alice and her sickly baby, only Jenna can discover the murderer’s identity. With few to trust and battling fear, secrecy, fixed gender roles and the feudal powers of the local nobles, how could Jenna succeed? The cruelty of the period, her losses and the dangers posed to a young woman with no family or resources, put the reader clearly on Janna’s side. Although occasionally she irritated me (how many wrong accusations does she need to make?), I read this in one sitting. A strong start to what looks likely to be another good series.

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2005, Thorpe-Bowker