whippycleric 's review for:

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
4.0
adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Having a murder mystery set in a real historical setting and trying to remain faithful to the real people's characters whilst writing a fiction novel is quite a challenge, but expertly achieved here. It's a slow burn so you have to commit in first third knowing it gets quicker paced later on. A solid mystery, very interesting characters, sub plots all coming together neatly at the end tying up all lose ends nicely. A unique book which I'd recommend.