A review by oashackelford
A Murder at Balmoral by Chris McGeorge

4.0

Jon Alleyenne has been a chef for the Royal family for most of his working life. He knows all their little idiosyncrasies and, other than his station, the king makes him feel like he is one of the family. So when the king orders everyone away for Christmas except for Jon and his security guard, Jon is honored that the king thinks so highly of him and his cooking. Jon is happy to be at Balmoral for Christmas, until things take a dark turn and the king is murdered. Jon is sure that the only culprit could be a member of the Royal family, and begins investigating who could have had it out for the king, only to discover that each member of the royal family has a potential motive. Can he figure out who did it before the blizzard is over, and more importantly, can he figure out the murderer before they strike again?

I really enjoyed this novel. I think it has all the trappings of a classic whodunnit. There are clues placed throughout the novel so that, in theory the reader can discover the murderer, but in true Christie fashion, there are so many motives and twists and turns that even when you think you know who the murderer is, you can never know the entire truth of the murderer. I managed to guess one of the perpetrators, but not the real motive or the entire truth behind the murder. A very fun read, especially if you are fascinated by the royal family and the idea of duty and station.


Now I would like to discuss the ending, so I will hide it as a spoiler.

Spoiler

I loved that Martin knew exactly where to shoot Jon so that he would live long enough to get the word to someone who could expose them all. I also love that the author put that fact at the beginning of the book so that we knew Martin's intentions. The only thing that I would have liked from this book is another epilogue set after the one year later about when the public found out that their new king murdered his own father. Or at least how the show's researcher felt about the allegations and what he intended to do with them. I think that it would have been the cherry on top of the cake, so to speak. As he left it, the ending makes the novel feel a little anti-climactic, although I will say that I am glad that we know that Jon was able to get a little revenge.