A review by ashattack13
Cruel as the Grave by Sharon Kay Penman

4.0

I once again enjoyed the story of Justin de Quincy and his newfound duty of solving mysteries. I was really hoping this mystery was going to tie into the missing king, but alas that was not the case. But I’m still highly satisfied, because this one had me on the edge of my seat, wanting to find out who had killed this poor girl.

Overall, the story once again focussed less on the missing king and more on the death of the girl. But, once the story switched to talk about King Richard and John, it felt more like filler and fluff than actual storyline. That and the relationship with Claudine took away from the mystery Justin was meant to be solving more than anything (maybe they both have more significance in the final two novels, but they didn’t fit right in this one).

I hope for a more royal mystery in the next story!

4.5/5