Lucrezia Borgia and the Mother of Poisons, by Roberta Gellis

(0765300206)

One of the newish breed of mysteries in which a historical personage is imagined into a detective. This time we've gone back to Renaissance Italy where we find Lucrezia Borgia settling into her third marriage. Her husband is the heir to Ferrara, and while she admires him, their union is solidly political not a love match. Luckily, for her, she is pregnant which brings some safety of position.

However, the rumors of her past life in Rome have followed her, and when one of the court ladies is murdered, she is cast as a suspect immediately. The charge is almost immediately retracted, but she is determined to find the actual murderer so that the rumor mill in Ferrara doesn't begin to churn her reputation to bits in her new home.

The mystery is pretty facile, but the historical details about court life in this era is detailed and rich. This is one of those rare books that make you want to do research to clarify some of the details: how were clothes put together, why was she so slandered in Rome, who were her first two husbands...

I will look for more in this series (at least I hope it's a series!). List book.