1480 and English physican, Thomas Berrington, is living in Moorish Spain. His Sultan requests he investigate the deaths that have occurred.
Very enjoyable mystery, well-written, and characters I want to read more about. ( )

It was good, esp for a free book -- set in the 15th century part of Spain that is under Moorish government, the story follows a surgeon who is trusted at court and needs to discover who murders people in the palace. Lots of colorful and diverse characters, some more likeable than others and a good dose of medieval details, though the plot itself drags towards the end. ( )

Meet Thomas Berrington, an English surgeon in Granada during the final years of Moorish Spain (1482). Thomas is highly regarded by the Sultan of Granada, who asks him to investigate a string of murders in the Alhambra, the royal palace. Thomas has secrets from his past which are only partially revealed in this novel, and author David Penny also introduces several other characters whom I suspect will become fixtures in later books. In some respects, the series follows some well-worn paths; Thomas could be solving mysteries just about anywhere. But the setting and historical context make this series unique, and I enjoyed spending time in Thomas’ world. The story had some minor flaws and there were some grammatical errors in the text, but I liked it well enough to try the next book in the series. ( )

Nice change on the setting (the twilight of Muslim-controlled Andalucia) for this "detective" series. Spelling mistakes were annoying, and the plot had - to quote Amadeus - "too many notes". Still, an interesting & engaging piece. ( )

A unique and interesting setting helps to pull this historical mystery forward, but only so far. Moorish Spain in 1482 is a place of power struggles and politics. The English physician to the Sultan of Granada, Thomas Berrington, is drawn into investigating a number of murders in the palace. He reluctantly follows his orders, along with a palace eunuch, Jorge, who helps with logistics and advice when dealing with the harem.

The characters are fun (even the bad ones), the setting is different, but the pace is very drawn out. Thomas and Jorge stumble along with little help from others. The middle of the book was slow, and even the denouement was sluggish.

Again, there were quite a few spelling and usage errors throughout the ebook, which makes me wonder how much the author cared about his work. Penny was apparently not a rookie author, either, so what happened to the editing?

This is the first of four (so far) in this series. This one included quite a bit of violence and sexual references (but not gratuitous). ( )