Also included are some medieval recipes at the end of the book for those aspiring to make medieval fare or try their hand at candle making! This is a nice, light read for those looking for a little bit of historical fiction on the fly. Sharan kindly provides a brief introduction to the series for those new to her writing. Catherine is an interesting character and you don’t need to have read the novels that precede this collection in order to enjoy the story lines. The stories aren’t heavy handed or too complicated to follow and the plot moves along at a speedy pace. Like Catherine, Solomon offers a different viewpoint since most medieval sleuth stories are told from a Christian perspective. The Jewish perspective on life in Paris during the Middle Ages was a fresh angle. Although Catherine’s stories are fun to read, I really enjoyed the ones that featured Solomon. Solomon is featured in several stories and solves a few crimes. The stories also contain another prominent character, Solomon the Jew. Many medieval mysteries feature male protagonists so it’s nice to see a strong, female character as the main focus. She is an intelligent, witty and charming character. She continues to solve crimes that inadvertently cross her path on her travels and while Catherine finds herself in some dangerous predicaments, she always manages to capture the culprit every time. The stories are chronologically ordered, starting from when Catherine was fourteen to after she is married and had two children. It features the adventures of Sharan’s popular and much loved heroine, Catherine LeVendeur, a crime solving woman living in twelfth century France. This short book, DEATH BEFORE COMPLINE is a great collection of murder-mystery stories by Sharan Newman.
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