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A review by liralen
The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen
3.0
This surprised me by being one of my favourites of the series so far, which I didn't expect from either a holiday-themed book. Georgie's off to the country, here, to celebrate Christmas in style...sort of. Always looking for a way out from under her sister-in-law's thumb, and looking to make a bit of money to boot, she takes a gig that amounts to 'provide some class and royal connections'.
What I liked so much, I think, was the relatively diverse cast of characters. Oh, some of them could certainly have been used to better effect; there may have been too many new characters. But the emphasis on said new characters mean that this book didn't fall into the rut of so many of the recurring characters playing to type over and over and over again. Oh, most of them are still around—Bowen manages to jam Georgie's mother and grandfather (plus his neighbour/paramour) and maid and boyfriend into the same small village. But they get in the way less than they might. I also do enjoy the mysteries in these books; although I guessed at the killer pretty early on, Bowen threw in enough red herrings that I doubted my guess.
Meanwhile, Georgie's love life has finally taken a step forward—now we'll just have to wait and see whether she and Darcy manage to make any more progress in the next six books!
What I liked so much, I think, was the relatively diverse cast of characters. Oh, some of them could certainly have been used to better effect; there may have been too many new characters. But the emphasis on said new characters mean that this book didn't fall into the rut of so many of the recurring characters playing to type over and over and over again. Oh, most of them are still around—Bowen manages to jam Georgie's mother and grandfather (plus his neighbour/paramour) and maid and boyfriend into the same small village. But they get in the way less than they might. I also do enjoy the mysteries in these books; although I guessed at the killer pretty early on, Bowen threw in enough red herrings that I doubted my guess.
Meanwhile, Georgie's love life has finally taken a step forward—now we'll just have to wait and see whether she and Darcy manage to make any more progress in the next six books!