A Comedy of Murders

Who's next? Michelangelo? Peter Paul Rubens? Regardless, George Herman's "A Comedy of Murders" introduces us to a new "man of mystery"--Leonardo da Vinci! And what more fun could there be in a good mystery than to have this great man as the "problem solver"! He joins other such "sleuths" from history such as Ben Franklin, Charles Dickens, Clark Gable, Oscar Wilde, the Marx Brothers, etc. on the library shelves. In this first of a series, Herman features none other than the Maestro himself, caught in the middle of war, politics, and, you guessed it, murder. Herman, who gave us commedia del'arte in literature with his first book "A Carnival of Saints," continues this genre but introduces us to two new characters, Da Vinci and his midget (he's NOT a dwarf!) Nicolo da Pavia. The two lay foundation for the later books to come--and they are a formidable pair, to say the least. It is 1498 and the forces of evil, mayhem, and, yes, murder are at work. As the Italian papal states are in their usual disarray; the French are moving in to take Milan, and, one might easily believe, "the end is near." Plots, sub-plots, and even sub-sub-plots keep this book moving at a fast-paced clip. Lots of characters (easy to get lost in them, too!) provide the tonal integrity and dynamic symmetry, colorful and eventful as it is. Alas, so much so that Leonardo's personality (even character) is not fully realized. Perhaps in later books he fulfills this obligation. Still, Book I doesn't suffer for it. Il Moro (Duke of Milan) is the victim of numerous assassination attempts, the latest unsuccessful thanks to the quick thinking of Nicolo, who just happens to be up on the scaffolding hiding with a stolen bottle of wine. Nicolo (the midget) inadvertently saves the Duke's life while seeing the two would-be assassins "done in." The Duke is impressed with Nicolo's quick actions, but the midget reads four languages, including "the vulgar one" (local Italian), is gifted with philosophical thoughts, has quick wits, and is most appealing to the ladies of the court. The Duke already has in his employ Messer Da Vinci. While Da Vinci is busy trying to develop his own code (of various things), he is the quintessential multi-tasker and soon Nicolo and Da Vinci realize they make a good pair of detectives. The Duke has wind that a team of assassins headed by the mythical (and mythological) Griffin and other attempts on his life are attributed to this unknown and quite mysterious person (or persons). Bodies begin to pile up every, making Act V of "Hamlet" seem a tea party. There's more to this scheme than the Duke realizes, but, of course Leonardo and Niccolo begin to figure this out early on. In the middle of all this, Herman reunites us with his traveling group of actors, who featured most highly in "Carnival of Saints" and they are a great segue into this one, providing the glue that holds the narrative together, with the vast array of comical actors who lend th

I hated "The Da Vinci Code" so when I read the jacket of Mr. Herman's book I was not tempted to purchase until the girl i was with proded me and said, "Oh, I've read that one. It's killer. You'll love it." I baught it (just to show the girl I vauled her input) and I loved it. I read it in two days!