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A review by alesia_charles
Whom the Gods Love by Kate Ross
4.0
Picking books off the shelves in the used bookstore often leads to great discoveries. I have a quibble or two with the plot that keeps me from giving the book 5 stars, but overall it was excellent. Julian Kestrel is a fascinating viewpoint character/investigator, the later Regency setting is well realized without larding on extra detail for its own sake, the cast in general is very interesting and well-drawn, and the basic writing is very fine indeed.
It's the third volume in a series, but that doesn't do it any harm. Charming Alexander Falkland, the victim, is already dead when the novel begins, which is just as well because I really think I didn't want to get to know him. Kestrel is definitely very lucky in his employer - the victim's father - almost but not quite unbelievably so, in fact. For once, characters from this time period are actually willing to face the truth and suffer at least some public scandal, which was refreshing.
The middle of the book did bog down a bit in collecting more and more details that didn't seem to add up to anything, but was saved (as mysteries often are) by the characters and a few teasing, if confusing, revelations. The improbable aspect(s) (depending on how you count them) of the whodunit are nearly overwhelmed by the other revelations and, again, the characters.
I wondered how I'd missed this author before, until I looked at the author info in my copy: Ross only had four books published before she died in 1998. She was the same age I am now, and that was a big splash of cold water over my enthusiasm, let me tell you. F*ck cancer, as they say.
It's the third volume in a series, but that doesn't do it any harm. Charming Alexander Falkland, the victim, is already dead when the novel begins, which is just as well because I really think I didn't want to get to know him. Kestrel is definitely very lucky in his employer - the victim's father - almost but not quite unbelievably so, in fact. For once, characters from this time period are actually willing to face the truth and suffer at least some public scandal, which was refreshing.
The middle of the book did bog down a bit in collecting more and more details that didn't seem to add up to anything, but was saved (as mysteries often are) by the characters and a few teasing, if confusing, revelations. The improbable aspect(s) (depending on how you count them) of the whodunit are nearly overwhelmed by the other revelations and, again, the characters.
I wondered how I'd missed this author before, until I looked at the author info in my copy: Ross only had four books published before she died in 1998. She was the same age I am now, and that was a big splash of cold water over my enthusiasm, let me tell you. F*ck cancer, as they say.