Antoinette's Sister

On the whole, I enjoyed Diana Giovinazzo's historical fiction novel Antoinette's Sister (#1,094).  The subject is Maria Carolina Charlotte, sister of Marie Antoinette, who became Queen of the Two Sicilies quite by chance.

The book alternates between Charlotte's first person narratives, and a series of letters to her from various correspondents: her mother, the Empress Marie Therese, her siblings and other characters pertinent to the story.  I did find this device a bit confusing, as the narratives and the letters don't always synch in time, and tend to jump backwards and forwards in history.

I really didn't know much about Charlotte's remarkable life, which is a shame.  Her husband Ferdinand was raised without the education necessary to govern competently, but Charlotte's formidable mother had the foresight to raise all her children to govern.  So as Queen, she was able to better the lives of her Neapolitan subjects despite continued political opposition.  In many ways she was overshadowed by the tragic history of her closest sister, Antoinette, and she ultimately became obsessed by Antoinette's fate. 

I did think the book bogged down several times in the middle, but overall, I always enjoy learning about history, and this was an interesting window.  If I am ever fortunate enough to return to Naples, I will be sure to visit the palace of Caserta, built mainly by Charlotte and Ferdinand, a remarkable legacy to leave to the world.

Counterfeit

I found Kirsten Chen's novel Counterfeit (#1,093) fascinating on several levels.  The plot concerns two women involved in the counterfeit handbag game.  But the book didn't go where I expected it to go; there are some surprising plot twists to keep you turning the pages, and turning your viewpoint on its head.

Ava and Winnie met at Stanford, where Chinese Winnie spent one miserable semester abroad.  When she later contacts American-born Ava, her college roommate, at a particularly unhappy period of Ava's life, a partnership is born.  They are making money hand over fist until things start to unravel...

The "targets" of this supposedly "victimless" crime are the purveyors of and consumers of designer handbags.  Apparently there is a whole world of fashionistas out there whose status depends on whether or not they are carrying the "right" bag at absolutely absurd prices (even for the top level knock-offs!)  As you may have guessed, I am not one of those people. I had to look up the particular bags mentioned online, most of which I did not consider either attractive or functional.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single bag?  I don't think so.  But for a huge industry based in China, where even the authentic handbags have been outsourced, fortunes literally change hands.

It's like the movie Wall Street, where "Greed is good".  I've got to say, I did not care for the ending, but then again, the characters in this book would have looked down their noses at someone like me.  I can live with that.

Desperate Undertaking

The play's the thing in the latest Lindsey Davis Flavia Albia mystery, Desperate Undertaking (#1,092).  The death of one or more of a classical play's characters serves as the inspiration for a series of diabolical murders.  The target seems to be a troupe of actors in Rome celebrating the holidays, and the site of the murders are the theaters scattered throughout Domitian's Rome.

Flavia Albia becomes involved when a former member of the acting troupe comes looking for Marcus Didius Falco, Albia's adopted father.  They had known each other when her parents were touring Syria.  Davos wants to find out who is targeting the members of the acting company in such a vicious manner.  Flavia Albia feels obliged to prove that her investigatory skills are just as keen as Falco's.  Maybe that was a trifle ambitious, but it's too late to turn back now; the murderer (or murderers!) has Albia in his sights.  It's solve or die!

I found this mystery particularly interesting, having recently watched the History Channel's series on the Colisseum.  Although the Colisseum was not used for staging (!) a crime in Desperate Undertaking, the explanations of the workings of that amazing building certainly aided in visualizing how the murderers worked out the details of their crimes.  I must admit, I breathed a sigh of relief when it was finally all over!

The Windsor Knot

I said I intended to go back and read SJ Bennett's first book in her mystery series featuring Queen Elizabeth II, and so I did.  The Windsor Knot (#1,091) is set in the period leading up to the vote for Brexit, a rather fraught political period in British history.

A talented young Russian pianist who entertained the guests at a Windsor Castle Dine and Sleep is found dead in scandalous circumstances in his room at Windsor.  At first it appears to be a suicide, but her own staff is reluctant to reveal the prurient details to Her Majesty, wishing to spare her sensibilities.  But it soon turns out that the scene was staged for a murder.  But who is behind it?  Was it political, personal or something else entirely?

Her Majesty wishes to find out, since she had danced with him only the night before.  She taps her new Personal Assistant Secretary, Rozie Oshidi, to help her with the legwork.  Rozie never expected working for the Queen would be like this!

Very entertaining behind-the-scenes mysteries in royal settings, SJ Bennett has combined intriguing who-donnits with gossipy royal tidbits.  Although the Queen is now gone, I hope this mystery series will live on!

Holy Chow

Andy Carpenter is back in his usual rare form in David Rosenfelt's latest mystery: Holy Chow (#1,090).  Andy is sad to hear that Rachel Morehouse has died, especially since she had contacted him a few weeks prior to ask him to make sure Lion, the chow dog she adopted from the Tara Foundation, will be looked after if anything happens to her.  Since he likes Rachel, and a dog is involved, of course Andy promises to take care of Lion.  He just didn't expect to be called so soon about the reading of her will, and the fact that she left the Tara Foundation two million dollars.  He also didn't expect that her stepson Tony would be arrested for her murder at the reading of the will.

Andy finds himself defending Tony Wasserman, who swears that he had nothing to do with his stepmother's murder.  In fact, they were on good terms - enough so that Rachel wanted Tony to take Lion if he was willing.  In fact, Tony was eager to adopt Lion to fill the void left by his beloved dog's death. Surely Tony couldn't have done it, but the evidence is piling up against him, until Andy starts poking around...  

With his typical humor, Andy and his stalwart crew put together the pieces of a conspiracy with Tony as its scapegoat.  But will anyone believe them?  There are a few new recruits, and a surprising reveal about one of the Andy Carpenter Mystery series' regular characters!  Always a pleasure to read.

A Desolation Called Peace

A Desolation Called Peace (#1,089) is Arkady Martine's sequel to her remarkable novel A Memory Called Empire.  It is another meaty space opera centered around a war about to break out in the vastness of space.  How this came about is a plot line of A Memory Called Empire, so you really need to read these two books in order.  Most of the characters are familiar here, but there are potentially more enemies, and not just out in the void.  Some of them are much closer to home.

What I really enjoyed about these two books are the author's use of language.  In the Empire of Teixcalaan, poetry is used as entertainment, culture and as a political weapon, so it is fitting that the beauty of some of the passages feels so utterly right.

There's political intrigue, sabotage, love, loss and the fear of annihilation here, as the Teixcalaan forces battle an unknowable enemy perilously near the territory of Lsel Station, home of Mahit Dzmare, Ambassador to the Teixcalaanli Empire.  When Special Envoy Three Seagrass swoops into the Station to convey Mahit to the Teixcalaanli Fleet battleship to help in communications efforts, it's just in the nick of time for Mahit.  But is she jumping from the frying pan to the fire?

This book, admittedly, did take me a long time to read, but that was mostly because I didn't want to rush the experience.  Here's hoping there will be a third addition to this series.