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Elizabeth Eyre
Axe for an Abbot


I never asked whether pseudonyms count, but I'm assuming so.  Elizabeth Eyre is the pseudonym of Jill Staynes and Margaret Storey.  They have written several Italian Renaissance mysteries under this name.  This particular one follows the character Sigismondo, introduced in an earlier book, his servant Benno, and Benno's dog, the adorable one-eared Biondello.  Actually, Biondello is one of the highlights of the book.  I suppose I'm a sucker for puppies anyway, but who wouldn't love a sweet and smart one-eared pooch?

The blurb from Publishers' Weekly describes the book as follows:

Appearing for the fifth time in this long and uneven tale, Italian Renaissance adventurer Sigismondo, accompanied by the dwarf Benno, kills a thief at the villa of the wealthy Pantera family. Shortly thereafter, at the Duke of Rocca's palace, Sigismondo's ax is used to slay the gross, venal Abbot Bonifaccio. These are the first of many murders, as a large cast of clergy and laity, nobles and peasants, pilgrims and prostitutes wanders around Italy, intent on skulduggery, wealth, power, piety and fertility. Central to the mayhem is La Feconda, a priceless jeweled cross said to bestow riches and sons upon its owners. The Panteras insist the treasure is theirs, but Sigismondo has vowed to convey it to its rightful home on Scheggia, a rugged island where the faithful struggle up a steep path to pray at the shrine of the Virgin. Although Eyre (Bravo for the Bride) keeps the characters and locales straight, and tosses in sex, excitement and sly plotting (including a conclave of cardinals electing a new pope), the story is overcrowded and marred by loose ends.

I think that may be a bit harsh.  The tale is hardly long, being only 350 or so pages.  We aren't talking Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell length here, and I'll agree that there are some aspects of the story I like much better than others, though whether that translates to "uneven-ness" I'm not sure.   Having said that, Axe for an Abbot is certainly not one of my favorite mysteries, nor is it one of the most memorable I've read.  Sigismondo himself is memorable, though his motives and actions are often unclear.  The "mad" friar Jerome is a fun character and the journey to Rome is like the Canterbury Tales procession crossed with Vlad the Impaler's Romania. 

I appreciated the balance of historical accuracy with common sense.  Storey and Staynes pay their readers the great compliment of NOT explaining every single detail in the tale as "the way it was done in ye olde times".  It's rare to find writers of consciously popular literature who treat their audience as sharing a particular knowledge base.

Overall, this is a book I would not rush out to buy, nor would I throw away a copy if it were given to me.