Palette of Blood is the second volume in the Basilica Diaries Medieval Mysteries series. It doesn't actually include any diaries (so far), but it's built around an engaging central topic the building of St. Peter's Basilica, the second one, the one now standing in Vatican City, which was built on top of the first St. Peter's Basilica.

I found Palette of Blood so engaging, that I immediately read the first volume in the series and have the upcoming third volume on order. In the afterward of the first volume, author Richard Kurti explains his motivation in pursuing this topic, "As the magnificent St. Peter's Basilica rises from the dirt, stone by stone, our characters will wrestle with problems that still resonate with life in the 21st Century—religious extremism, corruption, gaslighting, the abuse of learning, the search for fulfillment."

Like building the basilica itself, this series is a complex undertaking. In the late 15th Century the remarkably corrupt—even in an era of remarkable corruption—Pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia, finds his proposed basilica project and his own life under threat as a series of violent events sweep across Rome. A notorious libertine is found crucified upside down, an entire community of monks is struck blind, a fireball erupts in a church, killing and wounding many, and the son of the Pope (there's that corruption thing) is brutally murdered.

The head of Vatican security, Domenico Falchoni, calls on his sister Cristina to aid in investigations. Asking a woman to investigate violent crimes at the close of the 15th Century sounds unusual and unlikely, but Cristina is an unusual woman. She lives alone in the family's city home, determined to remain unmarried, and dedicating her life to the pursuit of knowledge. Her library is huge, she's been tutored by some of the best minds of the time, and once she sets out to solve a puzzle, she's relentless. Cristina is determined to see the new St. Peter's built—which makes her even further driven to unravel the series of crimes.

The crucifixion /blindness/fireball/murder book is the first in the series, Omens of Death. The second title, which I'm actually reviewing here, Palette of Blood takes place as designs for the new basilica are being considered. Each powerful family in Rome is backing a different artist/architect, and hoping to profit from the construction, which will take years and involve huge sums of money.

Unfortunately, shortly before the designs are to be presented to the Pope a wealthy banker is murdered and the bizarre crime scene involves not only his dismemberment, but also the destruction of a large portrait of Christ as the Salvator Mundi, and cryptic painting done at the crime scene in the victim's own blood. The artist who painted Salvator Mund is one of the artists being backed as a possible designer of the basilica. Then another murder occurs, this time at the site of a fountain designed by the same artist.

Cristina is again worried that construction of the basilica may be delayed or stopped due to the violence, so she joins her brother in looking for the killer. At the same time, she is being courted by the artist whose works have become crime scenes.

I thoroughly enjoyed both books, but I found Palette of Blood somewhat more successful than Omens of Death, which I think is a good sign. The series is growing stronger; readers have even better work to look forward to. You can read these two books in any order, neither is utterly dependent on the other. And if you read them soon, you'll be prepared for the appearance of Demon of Truth, the next volume in the series.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

An enjoyable and compelling historical mystery that mixes fiction and historical characters.
The mystery is a bit light but entertaining, the historical background is well researched and vivid.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Starting out with lush art, landscape and architecture descriptions, this books drops the reader directly into Renaissance Rome with a series of gruesome murders. The murder is pretty slight-the reader will have a pretty good idea who the killer is simply because they are the only one who isn't a real historical figure. However, the setting is the gem here and the reader can enjoy being immersed into a historical world.

Unfortunately, the killer is caught 60% of the way into the book and, at that point, the book grinds to a halt as his motives are examined. Definitely an enjoyable read, but I hope future works in the series will have slightly better pacing.

(A note on the series title of "medieval": 1503 Rome is right smack in the middle of the Renaissance so I'm not sure why it's called Medieval.)

Very entertaining even if the plot seemed a bit too conventional to my taste.

The historical details are really marvellous and the ensemble cast pitch perfect. As I stated above my only disappointment was that the story needed to get a little more spiced up......

So far so good and I'm looking forward to read the third installment of this rather interesting early Italian Renaissance murder mystery series

Many thanks to Sapere Books and Netgalley for this good ARC.

Hard to follow and it was hard for me to get into. Other people may enjoy it, but it didn’t keep my interest.

A great new entry into this medieval crime mystery genre. That is only what I can say about it. On the things it had to deliver, it delivered. And on the things it did not had to deliver, it didn't.
The reason I gave it 4 stars is just because I thought the plot was very generic and the mystery could be seen a hundred pages before it actually happened. Other than that, it is an exceptional book and a worthwhile read.

Overall, this book does what I want from sequels that are not direct continuations of the story in the first book. Cristina’s faults from the first book are incorporated in this one, so it feels that her character is unchanged despite the time jump between the books. Domenico does not feel as developed as a character, though. The world-building and historical aspects seem solid. The detail about courtesans being more than prostitutes was an especially nice inclusion on that end. I did not find myself as enthralled with the plot as I did with the first book, but it was still an interesting read.

this does what I was hoping for in a historical mystery novel, it had a great flow going on and I enjoyed the concept overall. The characters were what I was looking for and worked well in this universe. Richard Kurti does a great job in creating the story and I look forward to more from him.

"It was the same voice that had been cursing just moments earlier. Domenico turned to his left and saw a young man lounging on a velvet throne, directing operations. He wore the finest clothes, closely fitted over a tall, athletic body; he had shoulder-length black hair, and the arrogant bearing of a soldier. But on his face he wore a mask to hide the terrible disfigurement from syphilis that had ravaged him for the last six years. This was Cesare Borgia."

The second book in the historical mystery series featuring brother and sister, Domenico and Cristina Falchoni. This story is set in Rome in 1503, six years after the first book. A new pope has been elected and there is hope that the building of the new basilica will now be underway. Unfortunately, the murders of the patrons of one of the artists bidding for the commission threaten the process and Domenico, with the help of his sister, is charged with solving the crime.
I found the first book entertaining, but I had some reservations. I was looking forward to reading the second book, in the hope that it would dispel those reservations. Unfortunately, I was let down. Whilst the plot is entertaining, I found the historical setting to be badly represented. There was no sense of the time period, the historical facts are not backed up by any atmosphere. In fact, the writing style and the character of Cristina were far too modern and anachronistic for my liking. Other characters were not fully developed. Cristina's brother is very one-dimensional in this book and only had a minor role in the story. All in all, I was left feeling disappointed with the series.