
I can't not like Mary Russell and this was an entertaining read, but in terms of detection and sophistication, not up to her usual high level. The convoluted layers of fiction and reality were an interesting device but the plot was fairly thin and there was disappointingly little -- as in pretty much zero -- detecting involved. The plot loosely relates to
Pirates of Penzance and was about as fluffy, apart from one bit which could have come straight from Acme Plots Inc. (they of the sixteen-ton-weights that feature in so many Wile E. Coyote cartoons). We were introduced to an intriguing secondary character, one of Mycroft's "men", whom I hope reappears in later works as she seem to have potential. Still, "it is, it is a glorious thing / to be a Pirate King!"
View all my GoodReads reviews