The Difficult Saint: A Catherine Levendeur Mystery

What a great historical fiction book this is. I'm always intrigued by the details in Ms. Newman's books. Her research is thorough and her characters are unique and enjoyable. This book is no exception. I enjoyed the parallels and differences she explored in Catherine and Agnes as sisters, and find the religious aspects to the book thought provoking. For those that have not read the rest of the series, I would recommend doing that first. But if you've read the other Catherine books, you'll enjoy this one too.

Ms Newman does it again - a perfectly detailed, well-written mystery. This time, I even had a hard time figuring out "who done it", which isn't always the case with her books. Once again Catherine, Edgar, and their children are on the road. First, to visit Catherine's old convent, then on to Germany to help Catherine's sister beat a murder charge. Her lovely, graceful sister has turned her back on devoutly Catholic Catherine and her Jewish family (it's a complicated tale - your best to start with the first book, Death Comes as Epiphany and go from there!), but Catherine still feels the pull of family ties. Now, sis has been charged with her bridegroom's murder and she has no one to defend her, except Juhan, a more-than-slightly dangerous knight. Meanwhile, it's a dangerous time to be Jewish in Europe, fanatical Christians are preaching vengeance against the Jews - and Catherine's father is feeling the pull of his birth, to return to his Jewish heritage. The complexities of the family that Catherine's sister has married into make solving the mystery a bit more tricky than other Newman books. In fact, while the mystery elements are always good, they are surpassed by the development of characters and relationships. What will become of Edgar's sister Margaret (who plays a big role here) - will she find the good match for bloodlines that her birth demands, or will her attachment to Solomon (Catherine's stoutly Jewish cousin) grow, and vice versa? Will Catherine keep getting pregnant every time she leaves Paris? Will Hubert really leave it all behind to live openly as a Jew and how will that affect his wife and children? This book develops these side characters - including Solomon, one of my personal favorites and Walter, a knight from their past on his way to the crusades. Stay tuned - I have a hunch that things will continue to be very interesting for our Catherine and Edgar!

When I first picked up this series, it was after I had read the Guinevere Trilogy, by the same author, Sharan Newman. My mom had gone to a conference for Mystery Writers and picked up a bunch of her books, including the first installment of her Catherine Levendeur Series. I fell in love with it, and each year my mom returns to the conference she gets me a signed copy of her latest adventure. The character was very headstrong then, but now, in this sixth part of the continuing series, Catherine has taken motherhood, and life in mideval France to a more mature level. It's very enjoyable to see how the characters of Edgar, Catherine, and their children have changed over the years in the stories, but it may not be as strong as in the first few. In this novel, Catherine, her husband Edgar, and the rest of her family trek the miles to distant Germany to save her younger, estranged sister, Agnes, from an undetermined fate, as she was accused of the murder of her new husband. The conflicts are understandable and believable as we see her struggles to hold a family together in a time and place of racial anger and missunderstanding with the various culture clashes. Sharan Newman's views and enterpretation of the time peroid are amazing and fantastic to see, but some of the plot becomes rediculous and confusing, as well as Catherine's strange newly-found, docile sense of motherhood. It seems that she is no longer taking on the mysteries of this novel, but leaving it to her husband. I enjoy this series very much. It is a must read! Take it from me, you should pick up this series, but don't be dissapointed if the attitude changes from book to book. The years do go by swiftly, and Catherine is, and always will be a little too headstrong for her family, no matter how any children she has! Try it out for yourself!

In this latest book, we get to see the lives of the aristocracy and the peasants in Trier. Catherine and her family deal with murder, family relationships, and offshoots of the established church. I am always fascinated with the glimpses of the Jewish communities as well as the disagreements within the Catholic Church. We get a feel for the difficulties of life in those days, and the strength needed to overcome them.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first five Catherine LeVendeur books, and eagerly awaited "The Difficult Saint". I was not disappointed. Once again, Sharan Newman has blended history and mystery with great success. While following Catherine as she seeks to find the murderer of her sister's husband, I was fascinated by the background setting of religious turbulance and intolerance that influences her investigation and provides the reader with insights into the climate of those times. Especially important to me was the development of Catherine's understanding of the people that she loves, as well as her wonderful relationship with her husband Edgar. I loved this book, and eagerly await the next!