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A review by natcat
City of Vengeance by D. V. Bishop
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Entertaining murder mystery with a very compelling setting - I know pretty much nothing about 16th century Florence other than that the Medicis were important, and I really enjoyed the portrayal of the city and how it worked, and how well explained the politics and the various real people were. The depiction of the legal system was particularly interesting.
I also appreciated one of the main characters being queer, which I was in no way expecting, and I'm always delighted to find unexpected gay characters (particularly in murder mysteries, my comfort reading of choice!).
There are definitely some rough edges in the writing here; there's a lot of POV changes in short succession, which felt a little unnecessary, and there's places where the dialogue and phrasing feels awkward. But the plot was solid and built well, Aldo and Strocchi are good main characters (and I particularly liked getting their views on the same events and also on each other) and I feel like the rough patches are all things that can definitely be improved with practice, and I will definitely be trading the next books in this series (may there be many more!).
I also appreciated one of the main characters being queer, which I was in no way expecting, and I'm always delighted to find unexpected gay characters (particularly in murder mysteries, my comfort reading of choice!).
There are definitely some rough edges in the writing here; there's a lot of POV changes in short succession, which felt a little unnecessary, and there's places where the dialogue and phrasing feels awkward. But the plot was solid and built well, Aldo and Strocchi are good main characters (and I particularly liked getting their views on the same events and also on each other) and I feel like the rough patches are all things that can definitely be improved with practice, and I will definitely be trading the next books in this series (may there be many more!).