A review by kmkasiner
Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

3.0

This was a middle of the road read for me. I haven't read Maniscalco's other series (I started with the first few pages of Stalking Jack the Ripper and got grossed out by the body horror elements), so I don't know how the writing compares with that. The beginning of the story is promising. I loved the setting in historical Sicily, the legends Nonna tells, and of course the food descriptions were delicious! The mystery soon ramps up with the main character Emilia's twin being murdered. This book is half fantasy, half mystery. Although I enjoyed the magic and the idea of the Malvagi, the mystery part was really predictable to me. The characters also fell flat. Emilia's motivation for revenge makes sense, but her actions are all over the place. Prince Wrath, the malvagi demon she summons, was appealing but also not fleshed out enough. There were hints of romance but I wanted more. We barely get a sense of the other brothers, Envy, Lust, and Greed. Still a fun and fast-paced read though. My reading buddies had a theory about the sequel that makes me intrigued enough to read the second.