Cursed in the Blood
Number 5 in series
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Adjusting to her role as a new mother, the young Catherine LeVendeur is looking forward to life at home in Paris. But when her nobleman husband, Edgar, learns that two of his brothers have been murdered, her peace is shattered. Honour dictates that he must return to Scotland to avenge their deaths and, despite what awaits them in his war-torn homeland, Catherine and the baby accompany him.
Reaching Scotland, Catherine is shocked by Edgar's tyrannical father, and the cold secrecy of the rest of his family. As soon as Edgar is away from home, the family expel Catherine from their care, leaving her seeking refuge in a strange country ravaged by civil war. Searching desperately for her husband, she knows it is far more important to discover who despises Edgar's family so much that they would try to destroy its whole lineage - including her infant son.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the fifth book of the Catherine LeVendeur series (after Strong as Death, 1996), Newman once again brings medieval times to life. Catherine, Edgar and their baby, James, leave France for Scotland after receiving news that Edgar's two oldest brothers and his nephew have recently been ambushed and murdered. Meeting her in-laws for the first time, Catherine learns that Edgar's harsh father is hated by all his subjects and feared by his family, especially his second wife. The patriarch is worried not only about his family troubles but also about the disputed bishopric of Durham. After the men ride off to help William Cumin win the see and also find the killer of Edgar's brothers, Catherine befriends her husband's stepmother and the woman's daughter. She also discovers an emaciated anonymous prisoner on the estate whom no one knows about. When the manor burns to the ground, she, James, the stepmother, the stepmother's daughter and the prisoner save themselves and seek asylum on an island cloister. While Edgar becomes more embroiled in the religious war and Catherine fights to keep her surrogate family alive, they come to realize that someone is trying to wipe out Edgar's family and, separately, they both slowly hone in on the culprit. If the pace is slow and the language sometimes anachronistically modern, Newman nevertheless manages to render the complicated matters of state and church interesting and comprehensible.
