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Oct 01, 2012BeccaBB rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Franklin does a wonderful job of bringing the setting to life. It is filled with suspicion and hate, intolerance and superstition. It is a dark dangerous place but you also get to see the hope and the good of the people who Adelia meets along the way. The acts committed against the children are bloody and horrid and they are often described in detail. And Adelia, being a doctor and trying to be impersonal, talks about the things that were done in cold scientific facts that gives both the crimes and her a hard edge. Adelia is a woman in a field where women are not accepted and she has had to learn not only to deal with the hard facts of her profession but also with working under the constraints placed upon her by society. To do that she thinks of herself not as a woman but as a doctor and sometimes I think she pushed the point too hard and too often and her constant reminders of who she is and what she knows makes her come off as pompous. A romance develops that you can see coming and I don’t know that it adds much to the story but it doesn’t detract from it either. The ending is rather sensational and dramatic as compared to the rest of the book. And maybe it is not completely historically accurate but any faults I found in the story I was able to overlook because it was enjoyable to read. Adelia and the characters around her, including the dog, are interesting and well drawn. The reader is provided with a good picture of the world of the time and the thoughts and politics of the people. There are enough suspects and danger and clues to make the mystery fun to follow. And it is even alright if you can figure out a few things before you are told because you will still want to read through to the end.