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trusselltales's review
4.0
I enjoyed the political intrigue and machinations more on this re-read; fascinating portrayal of London in medieval England.
lisa_setepenre's review
2.0
The worst of the Sister Frevisse series I've read so far. I enjoy the series for a cosy, comfortable crime read and this mystery was convoluted and sensationalist without delivering what I've come love from the series. I enjoyed how grey the Suffolks and Cardinal Beaufort were and Frevisse's frustrations with them but there was a serious plot hole around in the secondary protagonist, Jane, that dampened my liking of her. The mystery was slow to develop and then solved in rapid-fire succession and, in the meantime, a lot of talk about nothing.
skeleton_richard's review
2.0
This should come as no shock to anyone who knows me but I read this because Charles d'Orléans was involved. I also thought the mystery sounded interesting. Unfortunately, this book manages to be incredibly boring, with half of it being the characters talking about nothing in particular. Finally Charles appears, and I liked his characterization (especially him playing with Edmund and Jasper Tudor, which was precious), though the plot was starting too late. I'm a liiiiitle iffy about the portrayal of his relationship with Lady Suffolk, since there's no reason to think he had an affair while in England, according to current scholarship. I don't know, because it is sort of courtly, but at the same time it didn't work in my head. I'm mostly disappointed by the lack of interesting things happening for most of the book, the mystery that barely gets investigated, and a complete lack of clues or any suspects who seemed suspicious enough to warrant me to consider them. It had potential, but it just didn't deliver.
(It is pretty fun that some of Charles' poetry is used though)
(It is pretty fun that some of Charles' poetry is used though)
archytas's review
4.0
If you can ignore the fact that the Frevisse's involvement in these machinations is pretty unlikely, the book is a great read. Particularly notable for it's vivid descriptions of London and the Thames - probably the most evocative description of London Bridge from the medieval era I've read.
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