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Bernard Martin Mystery #2
Jakobsblut
1894, auf dem Höhepunkt der Dreyfus-Affäre, muss Untersuchungsrichter Bernard Martin in Lothringen einen heiklen Fall lösen. Ein toter Säugling wurde grausam verstümmelt gefunden, die Eltern sprechen von einem jüdischen Ritualmord. Kurz darauf werden ehrbare jüdische Bürger umgebracht, eine antisemitische Hetzjagd scheint im Gange. Doch Martin ahnt, dass sich hinter den Ereignissen ganz andere Geheimnisse verbergen.
528 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
6 people are currently reading
170 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Corrado Pope
5 books29 followersBarbara Corrado Pope is the author of three historical novels set in late-19th-century France. Long an admirer of a variety of European mystery writers like Simenon, LeCarre, Pears and Mankell, she strives to meld her love and knowledge of the past with the page-turning styles of these masters. Her first novel, Cezanne’s Quarry, was nominated for an Oregon Book Award; her second, The Blood of Lorraine received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Her third, The Missing Italian Girl, arrives in February 2013.
She has a PhD in the Social and Intellectual History of Europe from Columbia University and has taught history and women’s studies in places as diverse as Hungary, Tuscany, the University of New Mexico, and Harvard Divinity School. Her longest stint was at the University of Oregon, where she was the founding director of women’s studies.
Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Barbara now resides in Oregon. She is married, the mother of a daughter.
She has a PhD in the Social and Intellectual History of Europe from Columbia University and has taught history and women’s studies in places as diverse as Hungary, Tuscany, the University of New Mexico, and Harvard Divinity School. Her longest stint was at the University of Oregon, where she was the founding director of women’s studies.
Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Barbara now resides in Oregon. She is married, the mother of a daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 30, 2013
Another excellent historical mystery by Barbara Pope. She is such an excellent writer and effortlessly weaves historical details into her stories in a way that makes you feel like you are there and not being fed historical details.
In this book, Bernard Martin is married to school teacher Clarie and they are expecting a baby. Now living in the town of Nancy in Lorraine, France, Bernard is an investigating magistrate. When a Jewish magistrate who has been a good friend to Bernard and very helpful asks him to take on a case assigned to him (Singer) involving a little baby boy who had been suffocated or had choked to death on something and then gutted and castrated and left to be found by strangers, Bernard is concerned that once again he will become an outcast. He is a Republican who doesn't listen to anti Jewish nonsense but the working class parents and wet nurse offer up a story of a wandering Jewish tinker stealing the baby and killing him. Bernard takes the case and soon has the wet nurse confessing that the baby accidentally got in her fireplace while her children were watching him (the wet nurse is a widow who had a farm to tend) and that when the mother came and found out, she is the one who gutted, castrated, and thought up the tale of a Jew taking the child for a ritualistic slaughter of christian kids to tell her husband so he would not be mad at her for leaving the child with the wet nurse.
Not only does Bernard have this mess to clear up but there is much anti-Jewish hatred stirred up by it and then on top of everything, the baby son he and Clarie have dies and Clarie is out of her mind and willing to believe nonsense herself.
All of this comes amidst the anti-semitism in Paris and else where due to the Dreyfus affair and local Jews in Nancy start turning up dead.
In this book, Bernard Martin is married to school teacher Clarie and they are expecting a baby. Now living in the town of Nancy in Lorraine, France, Bernard is an investigating magistrate. When a Jewish magistrate who has been a good friend to Bernard and very helpful asks him to take on a case assigned to him (Singer) involving a little baby boy who had been suffocated or had choked to death on something and then gutted and castrated and left to be found by strangers, Bernard is concerned that once again he will become an outcast. He is a Republican who doesn't listen to anti Jewish nonsense but the working class parents and wet nurse offer up a story of a wandering Jewish tinker stealing the baby and killing him. Bernard takes the case and soon has the wet nurse confessing that the baby accidentally got in her fireplace while her children were watching him (the wet nurse is a widow who had a farm to tend) and that when the mother came and found out, she is the one who gutted, castrated, and thought up the tale of a Jew taking the child for a ritualistic slaughter of christian kids to tell her husband so he would not be mad at her for leaving the child with the wet nurse.
Not only does Bernard have this mess to clear up but there is much anti-Jewish hatred stirred up by it and then on top of everything, the baby son he and Clarie have dies and Clarie is out of her mind and willing to believe nonsense herself.
All of this comes amidst the anti-semitism in Paris and else where due to the Dreyfus affair and local Jews in Nancy start turning up dead.
January 31, 2012
From the author of Cezanne’s Quarry, here’s another historical mystery set in France in the late 19th century. It’s 1894, and the young judge magistrate Bernard Martin and his wife have relocated from Provence to Nancy, the main city in the northern province of Lorraine. Tempers in Nancy have been simmering since this northern border region was severed from its neighbor, Alsace, annexed by Germany after the Franco-Prussian war.
Captain Alfred Dreyfus, the first Jewish officer to have a high position in the French military, faces court martial, accused of passing secrets to the Germans. A wave of anti-Semitic agitation, fanned by politicians, the right wing press, and some in the Catholic clergy, is sweeping the country, and Nancy is no exception. The discovery of the mutilated body of a young child is a potential flash point; his parents claim that a Jewish tinker kidnapped and murdered him for ritual purposes. Then, two prominent members of the Jewish community are found murdered. Is this the beginning of a crime wave against local Jews?
Martin, an idealistic young prosecutor, seeks to unravel this case at the same time as he and his wife are reeling from a family tragedy. As the story unfolds, we experience a clash between France’s Republican ideals, on one hand, and traditional beliefs, popular prejudices, enduring hatreds, and national insecurities, on the other. As in Cezanne’s Quarry, this book is rich in its examination of historical, cultural and social currents, which are well portrayed in their influence on the main characters. Similar to the previous book, the resolution of the mystery is a bit on the weak side. I think that in this case, it’s because the individuals in question are not sufficiently portrayed as flesh and blood people and/or the process of discovery of the perpetrator isn’t very exciting. Nonetheless, the book offers an immersive experience in a historically important time and place.
Note: For a legal-political thriller that recounts an actual case, only 100 years ago, in which a Jewish man was tried in a court of law for ritual murder, I highly recommend Blood Accusation, Maurice Samuel’s vivid non-fiction account of the 1913 Beiliss case.
Captain Alfred Dreyfus, the first Jewish officer to have a high position in the French military, faces court martial, accused of passing secrets to the Germans. A wave of anti-Semitic agitation, fanned by politicians, the right wing press, and some in the Catholic clergy, is sweeping the country, and Nancy is no exception. The discovery of the mutilated body of a young child is a potential flash point; his parents claim that a Jewish tinker kidnapped and murdered him for ritual purposes. Then, two prominent members of the Jewish community are found murdered. Is this the beginning of a crime wave against local Jews?
Martin, an idealistic young prosecutor, seeks to unravel this case at the same time as he and his wife are reeling from a family tragedy. As the story unfolds, we experience a clash between France’s Republican ideals, on one hand, and traditional beliefs, popular prejudices, enduring hatreds, and national insecurities, on the other. As in Cezanne’s Quarry, this book is rich in its examination of historical, cultural and social currents, which are well portrayed in their influence on the main characters. Similar to the previous book, the resolution of the mystery is a bit on the weak side. I think that in this case, it’s because the individuals in question are not sufficiently portrayed as flesh and blood people and/or the process of discovery of the perpetrator isn’t very exciting. Nonetheless, the book offers an immersive experience in a historically important time and place.
Note: For a legal-political thriller that recounts an actual case, only 100 years ago, in which a Jewish man was tried in a court of law for ritual murder, I highly recommend Blood Accusation, Maurice Samuel’s vivid non-fiction account of the 1913 Beiliss case.
February 13, 2026
10. Please do not read this book if you are a new mum or, in fact, a mum. I do have a bit of a rule about not reading any book that profits from injury or mysteries involving children. I knew that a part of the plot was the murder of a very young baby but it seemed to be a minor part of the story. It wasn’t. It was continually mentioned but worse than that is what happens to the baby belonging to the mc. Awful. And I stopped reading soon after that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2020
This is a well written and laid out historical murder mystery/ thriller.
Set in fin de siecle France, magistrate Bernard Martin and his world are depicted with enough modernization to accommodate the understanding of a 21st century reader who may have minimal historical knowledge but deep interest. Some may find the pace a little slow.
Set in fin de siecle France, magistrate Bernard Martin and his world are depicted with enough modernization to accommodate the understanding of a 21st century reader who may have minimal historical knowledge but deep interest. Some may find the pace a little slow.
May 26, 2017
This gives an interesting insight into anti-Semitism in another time (late 19th century) and another place Nancy, France).
July 22, 2018
Solid mystery and a decent history lesson. Set against the background of the Dreyfus trial, a provincial prosecutor tries to solve a series of murders taking place in France’s Jewish community.
April 19, 2025
Excellent timely topic. Well written, well researched, good who done it. I loved it.
July 26, 2014
Dies ist eines der Bücher, das leider einen vollkommen irreleitenden Klappentext hat. Man glaubt einen spannenden Krimi vor sich zu haben und wird aber schon bald eines Besseren belehrt.
Ja, es geht um einen toten Säugling und auch zwei ehrbare jüdische Bürger werden in Nancy im Jahr 1894 umgebracht. Soweit stimmt die kurze Inhaltsangabe.
Aber der erste Fall ist eigentlich gar keiner und wird schnell geklärt. Und der Tod der beiden Juden ist fast nur Beiwerk in der Geschichte.
Der Roman ist meiner Meinung nach zuerst eine Gesellschaftsstudie des ausgehenden 19. Jahrhundert in Frankreich, wo nach der Dreyfus Affäre der Antisemitismus eine immer größer werdende Rolle spielt.
Mit der Bearbeitung der Mordfälle wird der junge Richter Bernard Martin beauftragt, der unvoreingenommen den wahren Täter zu finden sucht.
Durch eine schwere persönliche Krise, die dieser gemeinsam mit seiner Frau Clairie durchstehen muss, wird Bernard aber in seiner Arbeit beeinträchtigt. Er macht sich Sorgen um seine Frau, die durch einen schweren Verlust in eine Depression abgeleitet und unter einem immer größeren Einfluss einer frömmelnden Kollegin gerät.
Insgesamt hat mir der Roman gut gefallen, denn zum Glück lese ich auch gerne historische Romane.
Jeder, der das nicht tut und in erster Linie einen spannenden Krimi erwartet, wird eventuell enttäuscht sein.
Positiv fand ich die Darstellung von Bernard Martin und seiner Frau. Die beiden waren mir von Anfang an sympathisch und man konnte sich sehr gut in ihre Gedanken und Gefühle eindenken.
Das wertet den Roman deutlich auf.
Fazit:
Wenn man nicht zu großen Wert auf den Kriminalfall legt, ist dies ein lesenswerter historischer Roman mit gut gezeichneten Protagonisten. Außerdem erfährt man viel Wissenswertes über das Leben in Frankreich Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts.
Ja, es geht um einen toten Säugling und auch zwei ehrbare jüdische Bürger werden in Nancy im Jahr 1894 umgebracht. Soweit stimmt die kurze Inhaltsangabe.
Aber der erste Fall ist eigentlich gar keiner und wird schnell geklärt. Und der Tod der beiden Juden ist fast nur Beiwerk in der Geschichte.
Der Roman ist meiner Meinung nach zuerst eine Gesellschaftsstudie des ausgehenden 19. Jahrhundert in Frankreich, wo nach der Dreyfus Affäre der Antisemitismus eine immer größer werdende Rolle spielt.
Mit der Bearbeitung der Mordfälle wird der junge Richter Bernard Martin beauftragt, der unvoreingenommen den wahren Täter zu finden sucht.
Durch eine schwere persönliche Krise, die dieser gemeinsam mit seiner Frau Clairie durchstehen muss, wird Bernard aber in seiner Arbeit beeinträchtigt. Er macht sich Sorgen um seine Frau, die durch einen schweren Verlust in eine Depression abgeleitet und unter einem immer größeren Einfluss einer frömmelnden Kollegin gerät.
Insgesamt hat mir der Roman gut gefallen, denn zum Glück lese ich auch gerne historische Romane.
Jeder, der das nicht tut und in erster Linie einen spannenden Krimi erwartet, wird eventuell enttäuscht sein.
Positiv fand ich die Darstellung von Bernard Martin und seiner Frau. Die beiden waren mir von Anfang an sympathisch und man konnte sich sehr gut in ihre Gedanken und Gefühle eindenken.
Das wertet den Roman deutlich auf.
Fazit:
Wenn man nicht zu großen Wert auf den Kriminalfall legt, ist dies ein lesenswerter historischer Roman mit gut gezeichneten Protagonisten. Außerdem erfährt man viel Wissenswertes über das Leben in Frankreich Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts.
September 25, 2011
Hi, my name is Lynn and I am a bookaholic.
I go the the library and wander around picking up books when the title strikes my fancy and this is one. I thought it was a murder mystery by a female author. I like to read female authors and hadn't read much murder mystery in a while, so I picked it up.
It is a murder mystery, but of an entirely differenct sort than the usual.
I did like it. It fits into my favorite category of historical fiction and murder in a time when I don't have to worry about it happening to me today...yes, I am paranoid and a little over-imaginative too.
The period is the time of the Dreyfus case in France told from the point of view of Monsieur le juge,
Bernard Martin. He is investigating 3 murders in the Nancy area of France and this is intermingled with anti-Semitism of the time and French Republican ideals. He is struggling with his own tragedy in his personal life and his wife is exploring her pain and religious views.
It does a great job of taking us into the lives of most of the characters, I enjoyed learning about the 19th century French legal system...that the judge, together with a detective and police, investigates the crimes and gathers evidence...pretty much regardless of what we would consider personal rights in our society.
Any lawyers (Chris????) in the group could weigh in on is this as well as help mu understand - is he really a judge or a prosecuting DA in US parlance?
I go the the library and wander around picking up books when the title strikes my fancy and this is one. I thought it was a murder mystery by a female author. I like to read female authors and hadn't read much murder mystery in a while, so I picked it up.
It is a murder mystery, but of an entirely differenct sort than the usual.
I did like it. It fits into my favorite category of historical fiction and murder in a time when I don't have to worry about it happening to me today...yes, I am paranoid and a little over-imaginative too.
The period is the time of the Dreyfus case in France told from the point of view of Monsieur le juge,
Bernard Martin. He is investigating 3 murders in the Nancy area of France and this is intermingled with anti-Semitism of the time and French Republican ideals. He is struggling with his own tragedy in his personal life and his wife is exploring her pain and religious views.
It does a great job of taking us into the lives of most of the characters, I enjoyed learning about the 19th century French legal system...that the judge, together with a detective and police, investigates the crimes and gathers evidence...pretty much regardless of what we would consider personal rights in our society.
Any lawyers (Chris????) in the group could weigh in on is this as well as help mu understand - is he really a judge or a prosecuting DA in US parlance?
February 10, 2013
Set in 1894, the year Captain Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of selling secrets to the Germans, the backdrop of the story is the conflagration of racial hatred that erupted. France cannot find much to be proud of in the Dreyfus affair, the poor man was falsely convicted and sentenced to life in prison on Devil’s island. Author Emile Zola’s fiery outrage brought public scrutiny and turned the tide in Dreyfus’s favor, but not before rabble rousers inflamed a furious public with hatred for their blameless Jewish neighbors. Against this backdrop Magistrate Bernard Martin is tasked with bringing justice in the death of a child. The infant’s mother and nurse accuse a Jewish man of the savage killing, Martin is not so sure. He moved to the small town of Nancy in Lorraine France after a hellish murder in Aix-en-Provence and is not thrilled to be in the thick of such a grisly crime as the killing of a child. To complicate his life further, his beloved wife Claire is expecting their first child, an occasion that should be a time of joy. Yet Bernard is coming to see that the town, riled by the massive national attention of the Dreyfus affair, is like a powder keg of anti-Semitism, ready to burst into an inferno with the first match. The murder of an innocent child by a Jew could be the spark that ignites the flame.
September 27, 2014
The scenario is in the wake of the Dryfuss trial in France. Dryfuss, a French officer, of Jewish origin, who was accused of being a traitor. The happening in Nancy, a small French town, with a Jewish community. Life for a young judge and the people living around him, will never be the same, as anti-Semiticm sneaks into France. Should I mention, that about 8 years later, it came out, that Dryfuss was set up from some French anti-Jewish officers, and was freed then ? But nobody knew it then, and like it is, rumors and bad gossip spread like a wild fire !
For a Historical novel, I think that the author pulled the story out too much. It was not showing the whole magnitude of the real events ! I feel, that she should have included a more historical background about France and anti-Jewish history. I mean, with a title like she used "The blood of Lorraine", someone may expect this to be like that. Then I wold have rated it with 4 stars. To the authors benefit I must add, that she wrote on the last page on the left corner very short a note. that it was not over for Dryfuss . Good she remembered that ! Also I am sure, more books will follow !
For a Historical novel, I think that the author pulled the story out too much. It was not showing the whole magnitude of the real events ! I feel, that she should have included a more historical background about France and anti-Jewish history. I mean, with a title like she used "The blood of Lorraine", someone may expect this to be like that. Then I wold have rated it with 4 stars. To the authors benefit I must add, that she wrote on the last page on the left corner very short a note. that it was not over for Dryfuss . Good she remembered that ! Also I am sure, more books will follow !
December 16, 2025
Booklist gives Blood of Lorraine high marks: Pope sets this history-mystery at that most explosive of times, France in 1894, just before the trial of Captain Alfred Dreyfus on suspicion of sharing French military secrets with the Germans. Her entry point for examining the anti-Semitism of the time is one murder case and one magistrate in the town of Nancy, long a haven for French Jews. And Publishers Weekly loved Cezanne’s Quarry: Could Paul Cézanne be a killer? Pope animates her canvas with plenty of vivid period detail. Francophiles and history buffs will find much to savor. A provocative debut.
Writing is Barbara Corrado Pope’s second career. Her first, and only recently relinquished, was a historian and the founding director of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Oregon.
Writing is Barbara Corrado Pope’s second career. Her first, and only recently relinquished, was a historian and the founding director of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Oregon.
December 14, 2017
I've read all three of Barbara Corrado Pope's novels (not in sequential order) and this one seems to me the weakest. In fact, I was quite bored with "The Blood of Lorraine" which deals with the strong anti-semitic sentiments in France which came out in full force at the time of the Dreyfus affair. There are a couple of murders and the question is whether they were committed by a rabid anti-semitist or a member of the Jewish community of Nancy.
It is quite a long-winded tale dealing as much with the Martin couple's grief over the loss of their baby as with the murder investigation. There is not a lot of suspense, the characters are rather two-dimensional, there are plenty of fillers (Inspector Jacquette's beloved Blue Jockey cigarettes are mentioned about a hundred times) and Bertrand and Clarie have gone a bit stale on me by now.
It is quite a long-winded tale dealing as much with the Martin couple's grief over the loss of their baby as with the murder investigation. There is not a lot of suspense, the characters are rather two-dimensional, there are plenty of fillers (Inspector Jacquette's beloved Blue Jockey cigarettes are mentioned about a hundred times) and Bertrand and Clarie have gone a bit stale on me by now.
December 12, 2010
Man's easy willingness to simply accept rumor and gossip as gospel without question and just allow bad things to happen supposedly in retribution. This one focuses on anti-semitism although it could be any group and those who don't like them and have a whole lot of "good reasons" why not. Around the Dreyfus affair in France, late 1800's early 1900's France. Supposed ritual killing of a baby gets things started. Really follows people and the thought pressures of the events tangents involved. Fast moving and great characterisations.
April 9, 2012
An interesting mystery for non-mystery fans like myself. The structure seemed a bit unusual, and the ending wasn't as much of a surprise as I might have expected it to be. The writing isn't fantastic, a little awkward at times, but I have a huge soft spot for academics-turned-novelist, and the subtlety of the portrayal of French Jews around the time of the Dreyfus Affair is proof of the author's historical training. I haven't read the author's first book and I now look forward to hunting it down.
April 9, 2015
Magistrate Bernard Martin, is now in Nancy, a town in Alsace just over the border from French territory seized by the Prussians. It is a town with a number of Jewish exiles; some of them relocated French speakers and some poor refugees from Eastern Europe. The town is in a simmer after the arrest of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus for treason in 1894. To this grim setting, the author adds a very grim personal situation for the magistrate. The book looks at connections between faith and loss and fanaticism and is well written but a bit too dismal.
September 25, 2012
The author is more a historian than a writer. The book is built around France's history of antisemitism. If you're not familiar with the Dreyfus Affair and its broader implications, you'll find this interesting as history. The characters, however, are poorly drawn and nearly everyone comes across as a caricature. If you want to see character development as handled by a master, take a look at Ian McEwan's Enduring Love."
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March 14, 2013Fear, hate, prejudice ... they palpitate through this book as Martin is forced to navigate anti-antisemitism, poverty, religious intolerance and his own personal losses. I liked this book better than Cezanne's Quarry. The ending was less expected and Martin's character shows much more of his human side as his wife deals with a difficult pregnancy.
January 31, 2017
Historical mystery with wonderful characters, this 2nd book in the series is a dark look at human nature. The author entwines art, history, science and enlightenment to create a beautiful and compelling story.
September 7, 2015
Excellent historical novel - set in France about 1900. The nuances of religious racism, friendships, and loss were delicately expressed.
August 24, 2013
Interesting story but not exceptionally well written. Maybe more suitable as a Young Adult book.
May 27, 2014
A continuation of Bernard Martin's career as a judge in the french Third Republic. Very entertaining. I have asked my local library to buy the third title in the series.
December 31, 2011
Murder mystery plus Jews, I like it
April 8, 2017
I really liked it & Pope's work. Oddly, this book's elucidation of conflicts between modern v traditional Jews in late 19th century France helped me better understand how the French see immigration & assimilation issues now, in relation to Muslims.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews