Anna S. (annapi) reviewed on 9/15/2010 + 334 more book reviews

I wanted to try this author because I love historical mysteries, but nothing about this book really grabbed me. I found the pace slow, and my attention often wandered when it was plowing through historical facts. It is 1902, on the coronation day of King Edward VII. An anarchist accidentally kills himself when his bomb explodes prematurely, and Lord Charles Sheridan is asked to discreetly investigate for the King. This takes the reader into the world of the anarchists of the time, and throws in the added novelty of the involvement of novelist Jack London, who is researching the slums of London for his next book. While the historical background of the anarchists, the burgeoning womens' rights movement, and the breakthrough of fingerprints in forensic science was fascinating, and indeed these were what kept my attention, I found the characters merely interesting, not riveting. The mystery itself was flat and lukewarm, the ending unsatisfying. I would give this series another chance by reading another book (since this is book 10 I should probably start from the beginning), and decide from there whether or not to pursue the rest of it.

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