Scan barcode
A review by veronica87
The Queen of Bedlam by Robert R. McCammon
4.0
It's now 1702, three years after young Matthew Corbett solved the mystery of the first novel. He's now 23 years old and clerking for a magistrate in New York, still a burgeoning little town of only a few thousand residents travelling mostly dirt roads. Matthew soon finds himself embroiled in a new mystery - and possibly facing a different future than the one he'd always envisioned for himself - when a couple of prominent men are found murdered in similar fashion.
While I like the setting of the story and the author does a commendable job of portraying life in colonial America, I'm still not sure I entirely like Matthew. A lot of the time I find him arrogant, irritating, and a bit hypocritical. He will hound people with questions, even if it's about something personal and thus none of his business, demanding that they answer him but when someone asks him questions he bristles or else decides it's not necessary to answer. He feels entitled to everyone else's secrets but no one is entitled to his. He also thinks he's smarter than anyone else, a belief that he uses to elevate himself above those around him, the "weak minded" (as he internally refers to another character who is not book smart but who has a lot of real world experience in the profession to which Matthew aspires). And yet, upon his first meeting with a new character he openly informs that character that she perhaps uses her "curse" as a way to place herself above the mundane events and people around her. That's the pot calling the kettle black. I actually only really like Matthew when he's just going about normal life and isn't doing anything necessarily connected to the mystery.
That said, now that Matthew seems to be permanently based in New York, the story introduces several new characters that I hope stick around and become fixtures in Matthew's life. I feel strongly that they may be a means to making Matthew less insufferable. In any event, I liked them all more than I do Matthew.
As for the mystery angle, there are actually a few mysteries going on...some more connected to the central murders while others are just a side plot. The cases were interesting, though the side plot mystery was pretty transparent. I was actually a bit sad about how the murder mystery played out. I was hoping for a different ending, I guess.
I'll move on to the next book in the series because I do like the writing style, the time period, and the introduction of some colorful, secondary characters. Those all help to compensate for an irritating ( to me) main character. It's also of note that the author intended the first book to be a stand-alone story. It was only a few years after its publication that the author decided to re-visit Matthew Corbett and make a series out of it. It's therefore evident in this installment that elements of a long arc have been put in place and I'm curious to see that play out.
P.S. And if, like me, you've been wondering about the fate of Fount Royal, the setting of the first book, you get the answer here.
While I like the setting of the story and the author does a commendable job of portraying life in colonial America, I'm still not sure I entirely like Matthew. A lot of the time I find him arrogant, irritating, and a bit hypocritical. He will hound people with questions, even if it's about something personal and thus none of his business, demanding that they answer him but when someone asks him questions he bristles or else decides it's not necessary to answer. He feels entitled to everyone else's secrets but no one is entitled to his. He also thinks he's smarter than anyone else, a belief that he uses to elevate himself above those around him, the "weak minded" (as he internally refers to another character who is not book smart but who has a lot of real world experience in the profession to which Matthew aspires). And yet, upon his first meeting with a new character he openly informs that character that she perhaps uses her "curse" as a way to place herself above the mundane events and people around her. That's the pot calling the kettle black. I actually only really like Matthew when he's just going about normal life and isn't doing anything necessarily connected to the mystery.
That said, now that Matthew seems to be permanently based in New York, the story introduces several new characters that I hope stick around and become fixtures in Matthew's life. I feel strongly that they may be a means to making Matthew less insufferable. In any event, I liked them all more than I do Matthew.
As for the mystery angle, there are actually a few mysteries going on...some more connected to the central murders while others are just a side plot. The cases were interesting, though the side plot mystery was pretty transparent. I was actually a bit sad about how the murder mystery played out. I was hoping for a different ending, I guess.
I'll move on to the next book in the series because I do like the writing style, the time period, and the introduction of some colorful, secondary characters. Those all help to compensate for an irritating ( to me) main character. It's also of note that the author intended the first book to be a stand-alone story. It was only a few years after its publication that the author decided to re-visit Matthew Corbett and make a series out of it. It's therefore evident in this installment that elements of a long arc have been put in place and I'm curious to see that play out.
P.S. And if, like me, you've been wondering about the fate of Fount Royal, the setting of the first book, you get the answer here.