Having recently discovered the joys of historical fiction by way of Phillipa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl, I looked forward to another story that combined the backdrop of truth and the juicyness of fiction.

Murder of a Medici Princess, by Caroline P. Murphy, looked promising. Set in the same time frame of Henry VII, mid-1500s, the Medici family ruled Florence, Italy.

Also similar to Anne Boleyn’s tale, Isabel Medici lived a quite modern and adventurous life for a woman of that time. She married young and produced children – especially male heirs – for her husband but still made many choices for herself, under the protection of her powerful father, Cosimo Medici.

Unfortunately, Murder of a Medici Princess, while thoroughly researched and packed with historical facts, sometimes gets so caught up in the details that it strays too far from the main storyline.

Grade: B-

Murder of a Medici Princess is currently available.