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english_lady03's review against another edition
4.0
I had thought this book was a Regency retelling of the Norman Conquest, but I saw the author's note that it isn't. It more of a Regency story using some of the figures from the period, transplanted into a later setting. For that though, it's a very enjoyable story peopled by some wonderfully colourful characters including the eccentric Bow-Street runner Jacob Pevensey who sketched his subjects instead of taking notes, the determined Eda Swanwyck, and the mysterious Uncle Harold, inclined to take early morning walks in the snow to feed birds. Was he just a harmless cook, telling tall stories about his former life, or was he telling the truth, and capable of committing murder?
It did not become obvious that this was a murder Mystery until nearly halfway through, I'm not sure if that was planned, or just how the story went. It worked well though, allowing plenty of time for character development, and the tension between the characters to come to a head.
I've sometimes said that Christian Regency novels can be a mixed bag. Its sad fact that American authors don't always to them very well, but Rosanne E Lortz was able to pull off the setting very well. There were a few minor Americanisms, and a character talking about eating in a tavern, which is a term British people almost never use, although the character in question was French. I wasn't massively keen on the narrator of the audiobook, but that did not detract from the storytelling. All in all, I felt this was one of the best Regency tales of intrigue/mystery that I have read.
On one final note though, I will say it wears the cloak of 'Inspirational' Fiction very loosely. Characters often lied and weren't called out for it by Pevensey, or alluded to immoral behaviour, and Christian beliefs were only mentioned a few times. I didn't mind this, as I do read General Fiction, but it might be an issue for some.
I'm looking forward to the sequel 'The Duke's Last Hunt' coming out on audiobook and seeing more of Jacob Pevensey. I deduce its loosely based on the events surrounding the death fo William II 'Rufus', the son of William the Conqueror, which occurred in the New Forest in the year 1100.
It did not become obvious that this was a murder Mystery until nearly halfway through, I'm not sure if that was planned, or just how the story went. It worked well though, allowing plenty of time for character development, and the tension between the characters to come to a head.
I've sometimes said that Christian Regency novels can be a mixed bag. Its sad fact that American authors don't always to them very well, but Rosanne E Lortz was able to pull off the setting very well. There were a few minor Americanisms, and a character talking about eating in a tavern, which is a term British people almost never use, although the character in question was French. I wasn't massively keen on the narrator of the audiobook, but that did not detract from the storytelling. All in all, I felt this was one of the best Regency tales of intrigue/mystery that I have read.
On one final note though, I will say it wears the cloak of 'Inspirational' Fiction very loosely. Characters often lied and weren't called out for it by Pevensey, or alluded to immoral behaviour, and Christian beliefs were only mentioned a few times. I didn't mind this, as I do read General Fiction, but it might be an issue for some.
I'm looking forward to the sequel 'The Duke's Last Hunt' coming out on audiobook and seeing more of Jacob Pevensey. I deduce its loosely based on the events surrounding the death fo William II 'Rufus', the son of William the Conqueror, which occurred in the New Forest in the year 1100.
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