Conclave

Conclave / Robert Harris, 286 pgs. Read by Roy McMillan

The pope has died so it is time for an election.  Nobody does politics like the Cardinals! I smugly figured out the inevitable outcome of the election early on. We only get details on a few characters and a broad overview of the 118 voting members so there aren't a lot of options and I'm so damn smart.  Regardless, I could NOT stop listening to this book.  The narrator does a great job of conveying the parts that hold a little humor and the pacing is fantastic.  I was fascinated by the rituals and requirements of the conclave.  The story itself keeps you invested...and then, the twist comes.  No, I'm not going to even give you a hint but it is not that they break out a dance party when the election is settled.  Harris is a not a new author but this is the first I've read of his and it is good enough to seek out more.

Poison

Poison: a Novel of the Renaissance by Sara Poole  392 pp.

After the death of author Ariana Franklin, which ended the Mistress of the Art of Death series, I was looking for another book with a strong woman in a position not usual given to women. This one comes close.

Francesca Giordano is following in her father's footsteps. She is a poisoner's daughter. Her murdered father was an expert on poison's and protecting people from being poisoned. She takes on his position in the household of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, mainly to protect him from his enemies, but also to discover her father's killer and exact revenge. Pope Innocent is in poor health and Borgia wants to be his successor. There is also the problem of the Jewish refugees who have escaped from Spain and the evil Torquemada's Inquisition. One faction waits for Pope Innocent to sign a document evicting the Jews from their Roman ghetto. If Innocent dies and Borgia becomes pope, that will not happen. Francesca is enlisted to kill Innocent. He dies but was she the one responsible? Borgia is elected Pope but has many enemies who would gladly see him dead. What of her affair with young Cesare Borgia? And will she ever get her revenge on the one who killed her father? On to the second book in the series.