The Scribe by Antonio Garrido - Another Epic Historical Novel Achievement! Out Today!

Year of Our Lord 799
  Citadel of Wurzburg, Franconia

And the Devil Came to stay...

Theresa and Gorgias were on the way to work, when they had been attacked and Gorgias hurt. Theresa has worked on it a little but they quickly took him to the surgeon...

It's the same every day, he said without lifting his eyes from the wound. Yesterday someone found old Marta on the low road with her guts cut open. And two days ago, they found Siderico the cooper at the gate to his animal pen with his head bashed in. And for what? To stead God knows what from him? The poor wretch couldn't even feed his children. Zeno seemed to know his trade well. He stitched flesh and sutured veins with the dexterity of a seamstress, spitting on the knife to keep it clean. He finished with the arm and moved on to the rest of the wounds...

Will he recover? Theresa butted in.

He might. Though, of course, he might not. The man roared with laughter, then rummaged in his sack until he found a vial containing a dark liquid. Theresa thought it might be some kind of tonic, but the physician uncorked it and took a long draft...

Theresa;s father was coming round. She ran to the side to stop him from sitting up, but Gorgias would not listen to reason. As he moved, he grunted and winced with pain. After he managed to sit up, he briefly rested before opening his. With his health arm, he nervously kept looking around as though something was missing. His irritation growing, he tipped the contents of the bag onto the floor. Quills and styluses scattered across the pavement. Who took it? Where is it? he cried.

Where is what? Korne asked.

Gorgias stared at him with a wild look, but he bit his tongue and turned his head. He rifled through the instruments again and then turned the bag on its head. When he was sure nothing was left in it, he walked over to a nearby chair, slumping into it. Closing his eyes, he whispered a prayer for his soul.

~~~

The Scribe

By Antonio Garrido

Translated by Simon Brani

I met this author through The Corpse Reader. That fantastic book already brought over 200 individuals from across the world to Book Readers Heaven, but if you haven't read my review yet, check it out! Each of these are so unique in their story line that I can't compare the two. So I'll just say I loved them both! You know, when I say that about a historical novel, which is not my favorite genre, and it is also well over 600 pages, well, you should acknowledge I'm not joking! This author sends his books to us from his home in Spain, where The Corpse Reader was the recipient of the Zaragoza International Price for best Historical novel published there.

Gorgias had been commissioned with a very important job to translate a parchment on behalf of Charlemagne.
It had been stolen when they were attacked!

Theresa was a very fortunate woman for those living at that time. She had been taught to not only read and write, but to do most of what her father's trade was. She was working at a local shop and was due to take an exam the very morning that they had been robbed. Now instead of several witnesses, Korne, her boss was able to administer the test...

Let's just say that Theresa was in the same boat as women throughout history. The men were jealous and afraid of her being able to handle their jobs, so her boss was now going to make sure that she didn't pass the exam! He started what ultimately resulted in his shop being totally burned down and one of his sons killed. Of course he blamed Theresa. She had managed to escape but a young street girl had been there that day and she was also killed; everybody thought Theresa had died...

Theresa knows that she must leave her home town, alone and the story splits at that point to follow her in her travels. At the same time her father, not only has lost the document he was to work on, but his injuries prevent him from working at all. He starts to make excuses, trying to figure out what to do. Ultimately he is imprisoned; forced to work within the home of the local official, deep in the center part where nobody knows he is. Between mourning for the loss of his beloved daughter and being taken from his wife, with little food, he sinks into poorer and poorer health.

Here you have your test, he said, and he opened the latticework lid that protected the pool. "Make ready the skin and you will earn the qualification you so crave.
Theresa's lips tightened. Scraping and preparing the skins was not a task befitting a craftsman, but if that was what Korne wanted, she would not disappoint him. She walked over to the edge of the pool and observed the layer of blood and fat floating on its surface. Taking a space, she pushed the remains left by the caustics to one side and fished around for the skin that she would work on. But after several attempts, she still could not fin one. She turned with a look of puzzlement on her face, demanding an explanation.
It's in there Korne, Korne indicated toward the deepest pool.
Theresa walked over to the pool that received the skins just as they had been torn from the animals. Carefully, she took off her boots. Then she gathered up her skirt and stepped into the water, holding her breath.
Scraps of skin and clots of blood floated in the bath, intermingling with the filth of the maceration pool. under the attentive gaze of the crowd, she lowered herself until the liquid reached her stomach. The cold made her groan.
She waited a moment before taking another deep breath and letting herself sink into the depths of the pool. For a blink of an eye she disappeared underwater, but she quickly emerged with her head veiled in grease. Spitting, she wiped the filth from her face. Then she plunged further into the center of the bath, pushing away the floating detritus. The lime stung her skin under her clothes and the ice number her bones. Under her bare feel she could feel a bed of slime. And she groped the surface like a blind woman looking for a rail to cling to. But she kept going, feeling her way forward as the water lapped against her chin.
Suddenly she bumped into something under the water, and her heart missed a beat. When she managed to calm herself down, she felt the object with her foot to try to identify it. For a moment she thought about giving up, but she remembered her father and everyone who had believed in her. She filled her lungs with air and submerged as her hands touched the object. Its sticky feel made her want to retch, but she suppressed her revulsion and continued to run her hands over the thing until she found a string of beads that felt like little shingles. She felt along the line and after a moment of uncertainty, she realized with horror she was grasping a row of teeth. She almost opened her eyes in fright and would have been blinded forever by the lime, but she kept control of herself. She let go of the jawbone and went up for air, gasping, her face flushed red as the Devil's. As she coughed and spluttered vomiting water, the remains of a putrid and deformed cow's head bobbed up in front of her...

~~~

Theresa on the other hand, has found her way to a distant town and fortunately connected with a man who needs both her skills of reading and writing. For quite some time, she is happy there... But that was after she had been saved along the road and fallen in love with a man whose family she knew...

Sure, you can keep track of the missing parchment--actually Theresa had taken her father's pouch when she left home but didn't know the document was hidden in it... She later raises all sorts of issues about what it really is...

Alcuin was the monk for whom she started to work. I doubt it was intended by the author, but I found this character somewhat like Sherlock Holmes as he got lost in the mystery of this or that. It seemed he was involved in all the intrigues that were happening and the man who she loved told her not to trust him. Indeed, readers will see and hear some questionable things, but like Holmes, Alcuin is all about solving the mystery, planning through the actions that must happen so that something else will happen. I admit that, even recognizing what he was doing, didn't always help to be sure that good was going to win!

In addition to Alcuin, I enjoyed all the characters, including a bar maid that welcomed Theresa into her home, as well as the first family that had found her...

Working the way through this maze will take time, especially if you allow yourself to get to know each of those who got involved. Theresa and her father were committed to each other, but if it hadn't been for others, they would not have survived at this time of high tensions and little food. In the end, however, it is Garrido's meticulous attention to detail that pulls his readers into the stories. Myself, I'd like to have given Krone, Theresa's first boss, a kick or two where it...hurts!

A really fabulous, and yukky, look at how parchments were first handled and used for paper. Historians, don't miss this one! Highly recommended.


GABixlerReviews

Biography

A native of Spain, a former educator, and an industrial engineer, Antonio Garrido has received acclaim for the darkly compelling storytelling and nuanced historical details that shape his novels. Each is a reflection of the author's years of research into cultural, social, legal, and political aspects of ancient life. Garrido's The Corpse Reader, a fictionalized account of the early life of Song Cí, the Chinese founding father of forensic science, received the Zaragoza International Prize (Premio Internacional de Novela Histórica Ciudad de Zaragoza) for best historical novel published in Spain. His work has been translated into eighteen languages, and The Scribe is his second publication in English. Garrido finds his inspiration when he writes in his studio at the Cullera bay, watching the deep blueness of the Mediterranean Sea.

Antonio Garrido Creates Historical Novel of Significance, Including Background, and Thriller With Leading Character Song Ci, Father of Forensics!

The Corpse Reader

By Antonio Garrido
Translated by Tom Bunstead



Recipient of the 2012 Zaragoza International Prize for best historical novel published in Spain


Out on the 28th of May; Pre-order now!!!



When a novel receives such an award, it is quite easily for any reviewer to exlaim that it is outstanding! And that is very true...

Buttt, naturally, for me, when I saw the author's name and learned he was from Spain, I automatically went to the back of the book!

Yes, there it was, a complete bibliography, as well as a glossary! Then I checked out his credentials--a former educator and industrial engineer... Further, he has spent years of research into the Tsong dynasty, as well as the five-column treatise on forensics written by Song Ci, who is now commonly known as The Father of Forensics Medicine...

Now, why did that come first for me? Well, because this book was written by someone outside of China. To me that automatically meant he had to have considerable evidence of research to have acquired the knowledge to write such an epic historical novel on the life of Song Ci, don't you think?
And Antonio Garrido certain has done that. Interestingly, he had little knowledge of forensics...

Wow! Don't we Americans think we all know so much, given our variety and interest in television programs, such as CSI, Bones, etc., but when we read a novel based upon a master of this science, we will quickly learn that we really know so very little!

"Ci had some doubts about Gray
Fox's inspection, and Ci was ready
to see if he was right.
"He went first to the corpse's nape,
working his fingers from there up
along the scalp to the crown of the
head, and then inspecting the ears
with the help of the little spatula.
Then he went downward from the
next, examining the muscular
shoulders, upper arms, elbows, and
forearms, stopping at the right hand
and paying particular attention at the
base of the thumb...
"Your student has carried out a
superficial examination. Blinded
by his ego, he ignored the value of
what seemed to him banal facts.
Just as a race over a thousand li
can only be achieved one step at a
time, examining a corpse requires
patience and attention to the most
minute details..."
~~~

The first half of the novel surrounds Ci's childhood and reminded me of the famous Prodigal Son's story, except that Ci was attending college, while his older brother farmed their land. But when his father lost his job, Ci had to come back and did most of his work, while his brother took much more time off. 

A number of important characters are introduced in this part, including a judge for whom his father worked and who did much to ensure that Ci was taking the proper classes and other support he needed to be able to sit for a future position.

Even then, while he took classes, however, his brilliance placed him as somewhat of an outsider, especially, with a student who had high connections, but did not have the "eyes" to see what Ci did when he evaluated bodies.

But then a neighbor, Shang, was murdered and Ci first found the body as he worked in the fields, and then was brought in to review his body. Ci's brother was blamed for his murder, but his rival made sure that word got around that Ci should not be trusted...


Ci was also foolish in later becoming involved with a local gambler who wanted to take advantage of his expertise and entice rich customers to the local cemetery, to have Ci examine the body and define how the individual died. It was at that time that Ci began to be called "The Corpse Reader..." It's hard to blame him, however, since his father and mother as well as his brother in jail, leaving Ci with his ill sister...

At this point, the drama, suspense, and investigation moves into high gear as Ci tries to find evidence to save his brother. He met  with corrupt officials, told he would have to pay to gain support for his brother. In desperation, he manages to get further into trouble to make money...and then having to quickly leave town! As he left, he visited the cell where his brother was and saw the results of his torture and knew he was dead. They had lied to him, even as they took the money!

In The Washing Away of Wrongs, the first documented forensic entomology case is reported. In 1235 A.D., a stabbing occurred in a Chinese village. By testing different blades on an animal carcass, it was determined that the wound was caused by a sickle. After further questioning, the investigator had all villagers bring their sickles and lay them out before the crowd. Blow flies were attracted to a single sickle because invisible remnants of blood and tissue still adhered to it. The owner of the alleged sickle later broke down and confessed the crime.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collected_Cases_of_Injustice_Rectified

Interestingly, this case which comes from the works of Song Ci, is used in several ways during the mystery thriller. Cool use of actual research, right?!

"1206, Tsong dynasty, Eastern China.

Fujian Circuit.

Jianyang Subprefecture farmlands.

"Shang didn't know death was coming for him until he tasted the blood spurting up into his throat. He covered the wound with his hands to try to stem the bleeding. He tried to speak, too, but before he could make a sound, his eyes opened wide and his legs crumpled beneath him like a worn-out marionette's. If he could have uttered the words, he would have spoken his killer's name, but the blood in his throat, along with the cloth the killer had stuffed into his mouth, prevented him.

"On his knees in the mud, before breathing his last breath, Shang felt the warm rain and smelled the wet earth beneath him. Both had been with him his whole life. Then, soaked in blood, Shang's body collapsed into the mire, and his soul drifted away..."

~~~

Test: What is the most important word in the above paragraph for solving this mystery?

This novel is exceptional in so many different ways... If you are into forensic sciences, this is a must read... History buffs...also a must-read! For those who enjoy a good forensic science suspense thriller, this will easily fulfill your interests. Highly Recommended!

GABixlerReviews

A native of Spain, a former educator, and industrial engineer, Antonio Garrido has received acclaim for the darkly compelling storytelling and nuanced historical details that shape his novel The Corpse Reader. This fictionalized account of the early life of Song Cí, the Chinese founding father of forensic science, represents the author's years of research into cultural, social, legal, and political aspects of life in the Tsong Dynasty, as well as his extensive study of Song Cí's own five-volume treatise on forensics. In 2012, The Corpse Reader received the Zaragoza International Prize for best historical novel published in Spain (Premio Internacional de Novela Histórica Ciudad de Zaragoza). Antonio's previous novel, La Escriba, was published in 2008. Garrido currently resides in Valencia, Spain.

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• Read an Exclusive Excerpt from Antonio Garrido's The Corpse Reader

Jutta Profijt Creates Fun New Character in Dust Angel!

Eclectic Kitchen design by Other Metro Design-build Farinelli Construction Inc

"The shock took my breath away.
"There was a man in the cooler.
"He was stretched out on the floor.
"He wasn't moving.
"The guy lying motionless in front of me was a bum. Like the guy
handing around Lauenstein's front gate the day before. Could it be
the same guy? Had he sneaked onto the property in search of a place
to sleep and settled on the cooler? My mind was spinning like a
merry-go-round. I tried to stop it and focus. Had his coat looked like
this one? Was he the same height? Well, this was a man in any case;
at least I was sure about that.
"My attempt to distract myself by wondering about his identity failed.
The issue was not whether this was the same man as the day before;
the issue was why he was lying motionless in my customer's walk-in-
cooler...this man was dead..."

~~~

Dust Angel

By Jutta Profijt
  Translated by
  Erik J. Macki


Yes, I enjoyed Morgue Drawer Four and even more Morgue Drawer Next Door (Click over for my reviews), but Corinna Leyendecker, the main character in Profijt's latest novel, Dust Angel, touched my heart...maybe because she got fired, like I did after effectively working with a company for years...sure, I can empathize greatly with her! She also discovered that she really didn't mind leaving that job--yes, that definitely got my attention... But the business she went into? Whoa... I think I'll stick with book reviewing...  I know I'm mixing reality and fiction, but who cares? That's why we can escape into fiction! Right?!

Do you get the idea that Jutta Profijt is a lot of fun to read? She is! She doesn't "write" humor, her characters live it. That makes a great difference for me since I'm not into making jokes about people and situations like many comedians do these days. Corinna just gets into situations from where you enjoy seeing her "extract" herself...like with the dead body...

And no, she's not a new "dead ghost" to contend with, LOL as it was in her earlier books... In fact, I'm hoping this is the first in a series for her...

After all, a woman who runs a "Dust Angel" business is going to have lots of opportunity to get into trouble, even while she manages her ever-growing business! Essentially, she decided to aim her business toward wealthy men, mostly, who needed and could afford a company to manage his home activities on his behalf.

"...and guts when I informed Greg I was taking the
furniture in my study/bedroom/asylum with me.
All of it. First he turned pale and then red--but there
was no way he could ignore the fact that we'd paid
for the firniture in the apartment jointly...
"You could take the bed with you; Soledad doesn't
like it anyway." he offered instead.
"I need office furniture,"I told him. "You never
used your study for work anyway. With me the
furniture will finally be put to good use."
"He had no argument to obstruct my plan, so I
got the office furniture...
"Now I am sitting in my stylish office, typing up
this account while a dead body lies in the trunk of
my car, which I can dimly make out through the
window from where I sit...Oops. I've given away
too much, and I still need to tell the rest of the
story...That way, later on, no one can say I founded
my business expressly to perpetrate criminal
intrigues in the homes of my well-to-do
clients..."
~~~

Now Corinna had help with naming her company and other marketing activities from one of her previous co-workers, which initially seemed strange since she was one of the "creative" staff who could not be touched when jobs had to be eliminated.

Well, Troll had another reason, but you can find out all about that because Troll and Corinna become best friends...

Not like the other co-worker with whom she had been living, with benefits, it seemed from his standpoint... Of course, Corinna had assumed they were having a relationship before he brought another woman into their apartment...and bed...

Now here's where I started my admiration for Corinna! She didn't move out quickly as he suggested. Instead she moved into "his" den, "his" sanctuary! And she didn't continue to do any of the cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.

And when she left, she took all the furniture out of the den (which they had purchased together with other furniture for the apartment)...and thus had a beautiful new office for her business! I loved how she handled his rejection--as if it didn't matter to her any more than it did to him! I loved it!

Corinna had always been close to her grandmother who would give her sound advice as well. In this case, she introduced her to her first employee--an experienced woman, even with a degree! And they got along, even though Lisbeth continued to call her new boss, "child..."

So Corinna managed the contacts, while Lisbeth handled the actual cleaning activities, which worked out fine and to their mutual satisfaction. Until the day Lisbeth was sick with the flu and Corinna had to take her place at one of the largest homes with the strangest client. It was while she was working that Corinna discovered the body of a man lying on the floor of the large walk-in freezer...

Yes, she is too afraid of losing her business to just leave it there, apparently because she had forgotten to lock the outside door to the freezer! So she put the body into the trunk of her car...where, because she had so many other previously scheduled commitments which she couldn't afford to reschedule, the body stayed for...days...

Then the real fun started!

Readers will enjoy how she came up with her idea for her business during one of the many interviews she had to continue in the advertising business. I also enjoyed Troll taking Corinna to a speed-dating event (and why!) Me, I also enjoyed what happened to Soledad later...and Gregg! Ok, if you're not into a little revenge, well...just ignore that part. However, there wasn't anything I would have changed in this delightful new group of characters, given to either to love or hate... With this one, Jutta has moved into a favorite author for me, so I highly recommend her for your consideration if you enjoy the humor of everyday life...and a dead body or two...


GABixlerReviews

Jutta Profjt was born in 1967 in Ratingen, Germany. After finishing school, she lived abroad working as an au pair, an importer-exporter, a coach to executives and students, and a business-English instructor. She published her first novel in 2003 and today works as a freelance writer and translator. Her first novel feature coroner Martin Gansewein, Morgue Drawer Four, was shortlisted for German's 2010 Friedrich Glauser Prize for best crime novel.

Kudos from me also to Erik J. Macki, Translator... He has done all of Jutta's books and I've found them excellent!

Erik J. Macki worked as a cherry-orchard tour guide, copy editor, Web developer, and German and French teacher before settling into his translation career--probably an inevitable choice, as he has collected foreign-language grammars, dictionaries, and language-learning books since childhood and to this day is not above diagramming sentences when duty calls. A former resident of Cologne and Munster, Germany, and of Tours, France, he did his graduate work in Germanic and comparative syntax. He now translates books for adults and children as well as nonfiction material from his home in Seattle, where he lives with his family and their black Lab, Zephyr.