A MURDEROUS PROCESSION

In a precise, melodious voice, Jill Tanner portrays Adelia Aguilar, a Sicilian forensic pathologist, and her Moorish traveling companion, Mansur. The pair are part of a procession to Sicily to provide medical services and advice to the Princess Joanna, daughter of Henry II of England, and Eleanor of Aquitaine, who is to marry King William II of Sicily. Tanner keeps the many details straight and twists her tongue with ease around the polyglot language of this twelfth-century world. The story focuses on a series of attempts on Adelia’s life, even before the procession sets off across France, so half the story revolves around escaping various attempts on her life and chasing after the conspirators. Tanner expertly delivers the intrigue amid a tapestry of medieval European life. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2010]