AXE FOR AN ABBOT

Yet another chronicle of evil doings in olden days, and a fifth outing for quietly macho Renaissance man Sigismondo Da Rocca and his servant Benno—an appealing young man who appears dim- witted but misses nothing (Poison for the Prince, 1994, etc.). This time out, Sigismondo's been tricked into killing Bernabo, a member of the warring Pantera family, as Bernabo attempted to steal back from his nephews the jewel-laden cross called La Feconda—reputed to bring children and prosperity. Sigismondo vows to honor Bernabo's dying plea—to take the cross to the shrine of the Virgin of Scheggia, an island off the Italian coast. But more trouble erupts when the Abbot Bonifaccio, locked in a financial wrangle with Sigismondo's friend and patron Duke Ludivico of Rocca, is killed—the weapon a small axe belonging to Sigismondo. It all results in the dispatch of a motley group to Rome, where our hero is to deliver the news of the Abbot's demise to the Pope; the Pantera brothers Olivero and Ferondo are to meet their wives, and Father Ieronimo, a visionary who claims to have murdered the Abbot, is to be examined. Their arrival in Rome presages all kinds of skulduggery, with La Feconda the irresistible prize. The death of the Pope and the election of his successor provide a colorful prelude to even more treacheries when Sigismondo reaches Scheggia and at last fulfills his mission. Characters, killings, pageantry, opulence, filth and abject poverty seem to wrestle for space here. A little breathing room is called for, but the main man is incisive and the action nonstop- -enough for a mildly engrossing romp through history.