The Difficult Saint
A Catherine Le Vendeur Mystery

This review has been edited to include the following message from the author. I emailed her asking which character in the novel was the "Difficult Saint." Here is her reply: "Dear Curious; The title was taken from my friend Brian McGuire's biography of Bernard of Clairvaux, but I meant it to be Lord......more

This historical mystery, set in 1146 in both Paris and Germany, convincingly creates a picture of life in the 12th century which was teeming with political and religious conflict. The religious conflicts were centered on rising anti-Jewish prejudices and violence against Jews that was increasing as......more

The Catherine LeVendeur mystery series is one of my favorite historical mystery series. In addition to the impeccable research and the excellent quality of the writing, what makes this medieval mystery series stand out is that the author incorporates into the series the medieval treatment of Jews. S......more

A couple of weird editing errors marred this book--like calling Margaret's father her grandfather, switching names halfway through a scene, then back, etc. Someone was asleep at the wheel. But the book is solid, if not quite as winning as some of the previous ones. I suspect I'm a little burnt out,......more