The Sheen on the Silk, by Anne Perry

Perry steps outside of her usual setting of England to Constantinople in the 13th Century (1273-1282). It may be that because I do not know as much about this region of the world or this time period that I found the book a little less engaging than other Perry novels.

The main character, Anna Zarides, has disguised herself as a eunuch to attempt to find the truth of her brother's involvement in a murder. She hopes that through finding this she will be able to free him from his sentence to a monastery in Palestine.

I trust Perry's historical background, but not the particulars of the plot she is unraveling. I was engaged enough in the intricacies of the schism between the Eastern and Roman Catholic churches to want to attend carefully and do some background reading. I will be giving it to my friend who attends our local Greek Orthodox church and look forward to comparing impressions.