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Bright Hair About The Bone
Laetitia Talbot Mysteries - Book II

by Barbara Cleverly

     

Laetitia Talbot’s beloved godfather, Daniel Thorndon, has recently met his end in Burgundy, and our plucky heroine is determined to go over there to find out whodunit. Her father is not keen on this idea and insists that she finds an ugly old soldier to go with her, or somebody of that description. She does indeed come upon somebody who might fit the bill—if you stretch it a bit under some unusual circumstances—and thus the pair of them go forth. Ostensibly she is part of an excavation, but when she is not digging in the dirt she is digging up dirt of a different kind, and getting closer and closer to the dangerous truth.

Frequent readers of these reviews will know that this author is one of my very favorites, reliably dishing up plot-ridden, highly inventive treats once a year. This is the second of a new series, and although her first—The Tomb of Zeus (also reviewed on this site)—is written in her usual style, for the second book she has experimented with something of a departure. Whereas her work is usually 100% detective story, this time the story is more of a gentle romance with the detecting and crimes in the background. Romantic suspense is how it would best be described.

I was reminded very much of Elizabeth Peters, and if you are a fan of her work this will certainly appeal and fill a gap in the market for this type of story. Readers keen on the mystical and magical will find something to their taste in here as well, which again makes this nothing like her other work. I am interested to see what surprises the third book in the series holds.

The Book

Constable (Constable and Robinson)
October 24, 2009
Hardback
1845299175 / 9781845299170
Historical Mystery / 1926 / Burgundy, France
More at Amazon.com US || UK
Excerpt
NOTE: US edition is different, and a paperback

The Reviewer

Rachel A Hyde
Reviewed 2009
NOTE:
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