In this fifth novel of the series, Catherine LeVendeur and her husband Edgar are residing with their infant son James in twelfth century Paris. Edgar is the youngest son of a powerful Scottish lord. His family has never understood his decision to renounce his ties to Scotland and marry a French woman from a merchant family.

When two of his older brothers and a nephew are mysteriously slain, his father, Waldeve of Wedderlie, sends another brother to summon Edgar home to seek out and wreak vengeance on the perpetrators. Catherine's father is being questioned about his ties to the local Jewish community so he encourages Edgar to take Catherine, James, and Catherine's cousin Solomon to Scotland.

They arrive in Scotland to discover that contention over the rightful holder of the bishopric of Durham is pushing the region to the brink of civil war. The eldest and most brutal of Edgar's brothers is supporting the false bishop.

At this point, the mystery of who killed Edgar's brothers fades into the background as Edgar goes one direction and Catherine and other members of Waldeve's household are forced into a search for sanctuary.

The charm of this series has been the connection between Catherine and Edgar. In the first book of the series, Death Comes as Epiphany, Catherine is a novice nun studying with Heloise at the Paraclete. It's soon apparent to the reader that such a strong, opinionated woman is wasted on the cloistered, contemplative life. The whodunit is an opportunity to reveal character as well as to intrigue the armchair detective. As the series progresses, Catherine and Edgar settle into marital domesticity.

In Cursed in the Blood, Catherine and Edgar are no less devoted to one another than before (there are a couple of touching scenes that vividly demonstrate their devotion), but their relationship has achieved a level of constancy which doesn't provide much plot tension. What's left is a novel that is a confusion of nasty relatives (it's no wonder Edgar changed his domicile) and a cast of thousands, characters trudging around the countryside, and the often baffling presentation of a relatively unknown chapter of English history that seems unrelated to the central plot.

There's no doubt that Ms. Newman knows her history – the book is replete with historical atmosphere. Unfortunately, this is sometimes at the expense of a coherent plot. Readers who have followed Catherine and Edgar thus far will probably want to read this latest installment of their adventures. New readers would be better off with an earlier novel or waiting for the next one. The final scenes indicate that the two will soon have to confront a new period of adjustment.

--Lesley Dunlap