vimesbootstheory 's review for:

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

1.5

slow-paced

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I found this book to be an incredibly frustrating, underwhelming read. I went into it, for one, being perfectly aware that the story of Richard III killing the princes in the tower was almost certainly some form of libelous propaganda or similar; so, the impact of that revelation (if that is what it is meant to be) was lost on me. The book also relies on a lot of assumed knowledge of British/UK history that, without supplied context, starts to look like so much word salad. Worst of all, though, is the choice of format & genre. The choice of framing device, with this dull cop guy doing nothing but receiving book drop-offs, reading the books, and exchanging overreactions about their contents with some guy... why? What does this add? Padding, I guess? I hated it, and hated it all the more for the book explicitly patting itself on the back for such a kooky stylistic choice.