I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but when I got into the story, it definitely wasn't what I thought. It was really not a bad story. It was pretty well realized and I enjoyed the "detective" work from the 12th century. I also thought the prejudices against women/foreigners (and for the church) were well described. However, there were things that just didn't click for me. Sometimes the dialogue seemed off a little bit and Adelia's inner thought dialogue usually made me wince. Also, some of the descriptions and character development were shallow enough that I would forget the characters or confuse things. It was entertaining, but nothing special.