A Still and Awful Red

Howarth (Fair Weather Ninjas) offers an engrossing if uninspired account of the haunting circumstances surrounding historical serial killer Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed, told from the perspective of Maria, a peasant girl who, in 1609, leaves her small Hungarian village to become a seamstress at Čachtice Castle. Báthory is a frequently fictionalized character, and Maria’s discovery of her violence plays out fairly predictably. Father Barosius, the religious presence in the countess’s castle, suspects Báthory’s crimes and recruits Maria, who is conveniently if somewhat unbelievably able to read and write, to help him record the countess’s murders and bring a stop to her reign of terror. Research into the biographical details of Báthory’s life is evident, but historically minded readers will struggle with the unrealistically frequent and unceremonious interactions between the royal and peasant classes that grant Maria the access necessary for her to tell this story. Still, Howarth’s smooth prose and fast-paced plot keep the pages turning, and readers unfamiliar with Báthory will find this a suitably chilling introduction. [em](May) [/em]