A review by truebookaddict
The Collector of Dying Breaths by M.J. Rose

4.0

In The Collector of Dying Breaths, we are taken to 16th Century France where a monk believes he has created a formula to collect a person's dying breath and supplant that breath into a living body, reigniting that soul. And so, the author approaches reincarnation from a different angle and it's brilliant.

Jaq, our recurring heroine in the series, has experienced a great loss and so the concept of capturing someone's dying breath intrigues her, while she is wary at first. She encounters an heiress who has her own reasons for wanting to know the secret, but Jaq has an agenda of her own.

Intertwined with the modern day story, we have the apprentice of the now deceased monk working closely with Catherine de Medici herself, not only as a scent maker, but as a creator of the deadly poisons with which Catherine is known to have dispatched her enemies. As usual, the author seamlessly moves back and forth from one era to the other and instead of feeling like two separate stories, they play off and compliment each other. As the reader, we never feel like we're in one time or the other, but made a part of both times.

I always look forward to a new book in this series because each book can really be read as a stand alone. The reason for this is that the author always connects the present, continuing characters and their lives to a certain era in the past and it works beautifully. I look forward to where and when the author will take us to next.