Reviews

Cruel as the Grave by Sharon Kay Penman

cpjeanz's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

joellie's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.0

inthelunaseas's review against another edition

1.0

DNF at, like, 2%.

This was an impulse buy as I saw it was about Eleanor of Aquatine.

I didn't realise it was merely set in her court, was the second in a series and was a mystery.

ashattack13's review against another edition

4.0

I once again enjoyed the story of Justin de Quincy and his newfound duty of solving mysteries. I was really hoping this mystery was going to tie into the missing king, but alas that was not the case. But I’m still highly satisfied, because this one had me on the edge of my seat, wanting to find out who had killed this poor girl.

Overall, the story once again focussed less on the missing king and more on the death of the girl. But, once the story switched to talk about King Richard and John, it felt more like filler and fluff than actual storyline. That and the relationship with Claudine took away from the mystery Justin was meant to be solving more than anything (maybe they both have more significance in the final two novels, but they didn’t fit right in this one).

I hope for a more royal mystery in the next story!

4.5/5

emjay24's review against another edition

3.0

This is the second book in the Justin de Quincy series. I first read #3, then couldn't find #1, and now read #2. Oddly enough, #3 was easier to read not knowing what'd been going on than this one was, it seemed to refer to book one a lot, and was more of a building sort of book than #3 was. Still, I enjoyed it. This series is set back in midieval times, when King Richard is currently a prisoner and John is plotting to take the throne. Justin, the unrecognized son of a prominent church man, has become the "queen's man," taken into Eleanor (Richard and John's mom, an amazing 70 something years old!)'s confidance and service, even though he's only in his 20s and only found out about his father. As i mentioned, the back story is more the focus of this volume, but there is a small mystery there that doesn't have attention fully given to it until the last third of this short book. Two people stopped me to ask about this book, as Penman is a famous historical novelist, but i quite like her historical mysteries. Sometimes it's repetitive to read a story that you already know the outcome of. Here, you get the historical backdrop, and lots of attention to detail about little historical and anthropological facts, while still wondering what will happen next. Despite the mystery being squished, the book was overall good and i look forward to moving on to #4. Wonderful, engaging writer!

lunaseassecondaccount's review against another edition

1.0

DNF at, like, 2%.

This was an impulse buy as I saw it was about Eleanor of Aquatine.

I didn't realise it was merely set in her court, was the second in a series and was a mystery.

marilynsaul's review against another edition

4.0

For some reason, I thought the ending just a bit improbable. But I'm continuing with the series. Overall it was an interesting read.

clairby11xxx's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-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

3.5

mayastone's review

adventurous dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

abbythompson's review against another edition

4.0

Book 2 in the Justin de Quincy series, Cruel as the Grave find de Quincy doing double duty as the Queen's Man, negotiating between would-be-King John and his mother Eleanor, as well as hunting down the killer of a local Welsh girl who was brutally murdered in a churchyard. The dual mysteries as well as the attention to historic detail kept me riveted. The cast of characters is brilliantly written, from the beautiful and wily Claudine, the tart-tongued Nell, tough-guy Luke, and my favorite, the sardonic and one-eyed Jonas.

Highly recommended for readers who like historical fiction or mysteries. There's enough of each in here to appeal to a broad audience.