reviewed by Bonita Crider
The life of Alfeo Zeno, apprentice to the Maestro Filippo Nostradamus, is one of errands in the rain, translating the master’s cat scratch into passable calligraphy, delivering medicines and horoscopes, and trying to persuade payments out of the master’s clients. But it also includes some master swordsmanship and free tumbles-in-the-sheets with the courtesan next door who considers him a “friend with benefits” in today’s vernacular. Oh, by that way, the Maestro isn’t that Nostradamus, but rather his nephew. Think Sherlock Holmes' smarter brother.
On the wettest night “since Noah,” Alfeo gets hauled to the prison cells of Venice. Doge of Venice himself warns Alfeo that he and his master should flee, a warning that the Maestro interprets as a subtle order to solve a mystery: the poisoning of high ranking Venetian. Or else. Not everyone is convinced it was a murder, but the Maestro who was there at the time is. Maestro Nostradamus knows the how, and is pretty sure of the who – or at least he says as much.
The genre on the spine may be “fantasy”, but we’re more firmly in the realm of mystery. Oh, there’s a bit of demon summoning and a spell or two, but the mystery is firmly grounded in human reality, emotions, and politics. It all takes place in Renaissance Venice where a complicated system of Councils, Councilmen and the Doge rule the city/state (complicated enough that the Council of Ten is actually 16 plus members), foreigners are restricted, and the accused are presumed guilty (often as not tortured as well) until proven innocent. So, needless to say the stakes are high for Alfeo and his master to prove their innocence and find the culprit(s).
Alfeo, apprentice, impoverished noble, and swordsman, tells the tale in his colorful and knowing voice. He fills us in on the details of Venice society with an amused tone of someone amazed that it actually functions, amazed perhaps for good reason. Alfeo and the Maestro have a relationship not unlike Nero Wolfe and Archie Godwin. Alfeo does the legwork of the case, all the queries and tracking down of suspects, while the Maestro due to infirmity stays mostly at home and does the mental work of putting it all together. The cast of suspects is a rich variety: a garish giantess of a foreign woman and her husband, a rival in rare book collecting, a Greek who might not be a Greek, a beautiful damsel hoping to avoid the convent, and variety of other nobles with something to gain or hide. Add to that mix a chief of police and his deputy who’d cheerfully see Alfeo tortured, and you have a full, rich cast of suspects. You might, like the Maestro, figure out the killer - maybe - but the motive is more elusive, and truly the heart of the puzzle. And just when you think it’s resolved, there’s yet another plot twist to add.
It’s all done with great panache. There’s potential for more future sleuthing by Alfeo and the Maestro. And if this turns into a series, I’m there for the next book.
