The Plague Ship — Jeannie Johnson

A WINNER IN THE AMAZON BREAKTHROUGH NOVEL AWARDS.
Beseiged by marauding Tartars and bombarded with plague dead bodies, the city of Caffa on the coast of the Crimea, is about to fall. The plague has devastated the population; bodies bob around in the harbour and the dead outnumber the living. Those left are desperate to escape, but the only escape is by sea and the last Genoese galley is about to leave.
Only a few are selected to board. One is the mute daughter of a Jewish doctor, clever in the ways of medicine despite her affliction. Another is a cardinal intent on destroying the girl and all she stands for.
Captain, Sergio Benuzzio is all that keeps things together, but even he is under threat and afraid. Ignorance, hatred and superstition travel with them to Constantinople, to Messina and finally to Florence.
The Black Death travels with them. The lovers, the innocent and the extremely guilty are prey to the pestilence but also to the evil of men.
Jeannie Johnson is the author of nine traditionally published and acclaimed historical titles. She also writes a weekly newspaper column, plus the international best selling Honey Driver Mystery series as J G Goodhind.

AMAZON EXPERT REVIEWER: Very good, vivid descriptions. Does not drone on and on, but reveals in poignant detail what the reader needs to know to visualize the scene...and smell it.