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mbenzz's review against another edition
4.0
After accidentally stumbling on this author, I took a chance and decided to give this book a shot. I was pleasantly surprised! I've read many books that take place during the restoration, but they were all from the point of Charles II or his mistresses. This is the first book I've read where I got to see what life was like for everyone else in England. The humble folks who work for a living and aren't surrounded by the opulence and grandeur of royal palaces.
Set in 1666 London, the book opens with the Great Fire that destroyed much of London. Our leads in this story, Architect Christopher Redmayne and Constable Jonathan Bale are two very different, yet very likable men. They are brought together unexpectedly by the murder of Sir Ambrose Northcott and team up to try and figure out who killed him and why. Christopher has designed a house for Sir Northcott, and Jonathan is the Constable for the area he was murdered in. While the two get off to a rocky start (both personally and in their investigation), they start to see they work well together as a team. Using vastly different sources, they are able to get enough information to piece together the mystery at a satisfying pace.
As for the mystery itself, I was pretty satisfied with the ending. I thought the beginning of the book had a great pace, and right after the murder things were moving right along, but then towards the end, I felt like I was being left out a bit. In the last chapter, Christopher puts everything together, but he doesn't explain himself. The big reveal scene was slightly confusing to me as I wasn't sure who was who (I won't go into it since I don't want to give anything away). Overall though, aside from feeling a little rushed at the end, I really enjoyed this book. I'll definitely be reading the second book in this series, and I look forward to exploring some of Mr. Marston's other novels.
Set in 1666 London, the book opens with the Great Fire that destroyed much of London. Our leads in this story, Architect Christopher Redmayne and Constable Jonathan Bale are two very different, yet very likable men. They are brought together unexpectedly by the murder of Sir Ambrose Northcott and team up to try and figure out who killed him and why. Christopher has designed a house for Sir Northcott, and Jonathan is the Constable for the area he was murdered in. While the two get off to a rocky start (both personally and in their investigation), they start to see they work well together as a team. Using vastly different sources, they are able to get enough information to piece together the mystery at a satisfying pace.
As for the mystery itself, I was pretty satisfied with the ending. I thought the beginning of the book had a great pace, and right after the murder things were moving right along, but then towards the end, I felt like I was being left out a bit. In the last chapter, Christopher puts everything together, but he doesn't explain himself. The big reveal scene was slightly confusing to me as I wasn't sure who was who (I won't go into it since I don't want to give anything away). Overall though, aside from feeling a little rushed at the end, I really enjoyed this book. I'll definitely be reading the second book in this series, and I look forward to exploring some of Mr. Marston's other novels.
knitswithbeer's review
5.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this unlikely partnership between a Royalist and a Parliamentarian.
No doubt a series to explore
No doubt a series to explore
tanya_bookish_topics's review
4.0
This was a great easy to read detective story. I am definitely in for the series! I loved the language it's written in, the story and the characters. Highly recommended.
trillianmagic's review
5.0
To be honest it's more 4and a half but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. An enjoyable mystery and characters I rather liked but the solution, while feasible, was a bit of a stretch from the information we had.
I shall, nevertheless, be moving on to the next book with all speed. lol
I shall, nevertheless, be moving on to the next book with all speed. lol
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