A COMEDY OF MURDERS
by George Herman
Herman (Carnival of Saints, 1994) returns to Renaissance Italy for a bout with murder and mystery in the court of Il Moro, Duke of Milan. The duke's life is in danger and Niccolo the dwarf, with the help of Maestro Leonardo da Vinci, is trying to identify the assassin before the duke is killed. Unfortunately for Niccolo, the castle moat is teeming with red herrings and dead bodies, and while some of the many murders committed are related to the attempt on Il Moro's life, others are due to inconvenient vendettas and untimely accidents. If Niccolo can only sort through the mess, he might discover which of Il Moro's many enemies is behind the plot, save the duke, and still escape from Milan before it is captured by the invading French. A murky tale with too many minor characters and too few major ones. Herman successfully sets the historical stage, but the mystery sadly is drowned in the details.