The Madman of Venice by Sophie Masson

Masson, Sophie The Madman of Venice 288 pgs. Delacorte Press, 2010. Violence-PG; Language-G; Sexual Content-G. $20.00. Master Ashby along with his daughter, Celia, and his clerk, Ned, embark on a journey to Venice, Italy to uncover who is behind the pirate attacks plaguing Ashby and other London merchants. They have also agreed to help find a Jewish girl accused of witchcraft who has recently disappeared. As Master Ashy and his cohorts work to solve the mystery, Celia refuses to be left out. She convinces Ned, who is secretly in love with her, to help her discover what happened to Sarah, the missing Jewish girl. After finding themselves in some dangerous and sticky situations, Ned and Celia realize that the pirate attacks and the kidnapping may have been connected, but are they too late? Although the storyline had enough to pull to make me want to read, the writing was choppy and the story was rushed. There were too many details to form a solid plot. The romance was stilted and not believable. And even though this is an o.k. book for young adults, they might pass it up as the cover looks like it is targeted for an older audience. MS-OPTIONAL. Whitney, Library-Teacher.