A review by charlottereadshistory
A Daughter of Fair Verona by Christina Dodd

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

A Daughter of Fair Verona is a historical murder mystery set in an alternative universe where Romeo and Juliet survived and had lots of children - the oldest of whom, Rosalind - is sick of love and poetry and determined never to marry.  

Rosalind or ‘Rosie’ is smart, capable and cynical - very much a character with modern sensibilities. I think the plot threw me early on, when Romeo and Juliet betrothed Rosie to Duke Stephano, someone who is decidedly unpleasant and is rumoured to have killed his other wives. I struggled to understand why loving and protective parents would do that and didn’t find the character’s reasoning made a lot of sense. 

Luckily for Rosie, Duke Stephano is found murdered in the garden during their engagement ball - less luckily, Rosie is the one who discovers him, alone and in the darkness, and is quickly made a suspect. The only person who knows she didn’t do it is Prince Escalus, who was also in the garden. 

The following murder mystery was entertaining, with lots of twists and turns. I thought Rosie’s tutelage in herbs for healing and poisons by Friar Laurence was a nice touch and added some intrigue and depth to the story. 

The last few chapters were definitely page turners as the story raced to its conclusion and the mystery was solved, with lots of tension and peril along the way. 

I’ve read a fair bit of fiction set in medieval or Renaissance Italy recently - this was definitely more lighthearted and fun, so if you’re after a cute holiday mystery with a bit of murder and revenge this could be for you. 

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.