I wondered for a long time if I would ever come back to the Mary Russell series, they're a visual pleasure to read and the prose (if somewhat of a 1920's kickback with the ridiculousness of the run-on sentences) makes me want to roll around with contemplation and maybe go back for a second read.

The series placing of this novel is a strange one, despite being labeled the 5th in the series, chronologically it actually occurs just after the first book returning us to the relationship of the budding apprentice and master. It's a nice way to bring back some of the tension between the pair which to be honest was getting a little stale with their current married status.

Interesting to read but the novel concentrated a lot on the surrounds of Jerusalem than the mystery on hand, lovely to read but I struggled with the pacing.