By Rhys Bowen (read by Katherine Kellgren)
Book 11 of the Royal Spyness series
Am I missing something?
The reviews love this book, up to and including "best book yet. " I, on the other hand, am a bit disappointed in it. It feels like the author cannot decide whether she is writing a farce or something a bit less over the top. I'm fine with the basic plot of the story. I can live with the coincidences that bring the recurring characters together again for this story. I don't mind the humor, when it is in the right place. What I can't get past are some of the details, the window-dressing that helps set the tone. For example, how seriously can you take an Italian countess who shares a name with a cocktail or a police officer who, besides being somewhat incompetent, is saddled with a name that seems to come from an Italian cookbook -- *Straticelli (stracciatelli)? Once you start giving your characters clown names, you have moved into farce territory. A man has been killed and you send a cop named Straticelli to investigate? Sorry, this isn't the time for a laugh; it is the wrong tone for the moment. There were other missteps. The ending for one. Why choose to layer heart-warming with farce when heart-warming was all that was needed?
All of this leads me to give this book just three stars. Okay to read but be ready for some really sour notes in an otherwise well crafted story.
N.B.: this was the last Royal Spyness novel that Katherine Kellgren narrated. She passed away in 2018. She is sorely missed; she put such a stamp on the series that she is a hard act to follow. In particular, I will miss her Bebe Neuwirth-like rendition of Wallis Simpson (yes, the future Duchess of Windsor). Perfect in every way!
*Good chance I have the name wrong here because whatever it was actually, it still sounded like stracciatelli (which means torn rag) and that is what my brain kept hearing.
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