Book Review

Death Comes As Epiphany
by Sharan Newman

This is the first of Newman's Catherine LeVendeur mystery series, set in mid-12th century France. Scholarly and intelligent Catherine is a novitiate at Paraclete, Heloise's convent. When Heloise receives word that someone at the St. Denis monastery has been altering a Psalter created at Paraclete for St. Denis, she sends Catherine on a mission to find out who is attempting to slander the convent. While visiting St. Denis, one of the stone workers is murdered, and Catherine finds out that there is a lot more going on than just the alteration of the Psalter.
I enjoyed this mystery a lot. It was fairly intricate, with lots of different threads woven in, from that of a blasphemous and fraudulent hermit to a complex trade scheme akin to money laundering. Catherine also has to contend with some fraught family relationships as well as the pull of both the convent and a potential love match. All of this kept me on my toes. Catherine is such a sympathetic and engaging character - very smart, loyal, strong-willed, and often brave.

Book Review

Music in India: The Classical Traditions
by Bonnie C. Wade

I've been reconnecting with my love of Indian classical music lately, and decided to do some reading on the subject to help me better understand how the music works. Wade's book is very much written for western audiences who are interested in Indian music. A reasonable amount of knowledge of western music theory is assumed. Wade does a good job of explaining raga and tala to the reader, and uses comparisons to western music that are helpful without implying any hierarchy between the two.