All strata of society are encountered, from lowly peasants to royalty, and readers get a vivid sense of their roles and their prejudices, most notably those against Jews, women, and Saracens. The author does a superb job of evoking Cambridge in the second half of the 12th century.
Adelia ministers to patients under his orders, while spending the rest of her time investigating the deaths. It is inconceivable that a woman might be a doctor, so the three have to pretend that it is Mansur who is actually the physician. When Simon, Adelia, and Mansur, Adelia’s attendant, reach Cambridge, they find that not just one boy but three more children have been horribly murdered. Henry II is most displeased, as the Jews are now taking refuge in the castle, unable to attend to business and therefore increase the king’s coffers. In Cambridge, the Jews are accused of crucifying a young boy. Adelia, who has studied medicine in Salerno, Sicily, is selected by the King of Sicily to accompany Simon of Naples, a man renowned for his detecting skills, to England.
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