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Oct 15, 2019
In the previous 12 books in the Her Royal Spyness series, Rhys Bowen perfected a formula that works. She created a lovable cast of quirky characters, and readers love to see what tangles they’ll get into next. While I admire an author who is willing to take risks and veer away from a formula, I think Bowen missed the mark here. I read these books because they are a fun escape, and this book was not fun to read. Most of the characters we’ve grown to love were missing from this installment in the series, and the few familiar characters we did encounter felt like cardboard cutouts of themselves. I have devoured all the previous books in this series, but this one was a slog. I hope Bowen continues to take risks with her popular series, but I think she also has to stay true to her characters and the light mood she so ably created in the previous books.