FIC: Death Comes As Epiphany by Sharan Newman

April: Fiction Pick

This is the first of 8 mysteries featuring Catherine LeVendeur as the sleuth.  They are set in the twelfth century in France. The author is a serious historian, so they really create a sense of the times, with Jews and Christians interacting, sometimes peacefully, sometimes with stress. It includes Abelard and Heloise as characters, and touches on issues of faith of the time.  Great read. – Judith

Catherine LeVendeur is a young scholar come to conquer her sin of pride at the Convent of the Paraclete, famous for learning, prayer, and its abbess, the fabled Heloise.

When a manuscript the convent produced for the great Abbe Suger disappears, rumors surface saying the book contains sacrilegious passages and will be used to condemn Heloise’s famous lover, Peter Abelard.

To save her Order, and protect all she holds dear, Catherine must find the manuscript and discover who altered the text. She will risk disgrace, the wrath of her family and the Church, and confront an evil older than Time itself—and, if she isn’t careful, lose her immortal soul.

With Death Comes As Epiphany, the first in the Catherine LeVendeur mystery series, medievalist Sharan Newman has woven dark mystery and sparkling romance into a fascinating and richly detailed tapestry of everyday life in twelfth-century France, and one of the most moving love stories of all time: Abelard and Heloise.

 

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