๐๐๐๐1/2
M is for Marvelous!
โฐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ: William Melville, the now-deceased queenโs personal bodyguard, uncovers a nefarious plot to kill the Kaiser of Germany at the queenโs pending funeral. He teams with Gustav Steinhauer – his contemporary from Germany to unveil who is the assassin โAkushkuโ before the funeral proceedsโฆ
๐ก๐๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ: Any time an author writes in the England Edwardian era with duo detectives, indubitably Holmes & Watson enter the mind. This is like that if Holmes and Watson were constantly side-eyeing each other.
Thereโs nothing I relish more than historical fiction mystery and I immensely enjoyed a Google session on William Melville and Gustav Steinhauer – the events they were involved in (Melville was the original M!!) including thwarted plots, stopped anarchists, prevented assassinations, all in real life, so the author picked an amazing twosome to fictionalize. In the book thereโs that duo-bond, but itโs tenuous and strained, and that adds to the suspense throughout.
The plot is engrossing, pulling the reader into a convoluted world of espionage where โwho can I trustโ is a minute to minute question. The villains, the pacing make for an awesome read.
๐๐น๐น ๐บ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐.๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
๐๐๐๐ง๐ซ๐: Historical Fiction Mystery
๐๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ: Sherlocks and the Holmies! If you love the genre, this is a must-read!
๐ โโ๏ธ ๐๐จ๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ: canโt think of a group that would dislike this unless the genre isnโt your โthang.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Knopf Publishing for my advanced copy in exchange for my always-honest review and for making me stay up WAY too late finishing this book!
