Helpful Score: 2
This book was rather slow and easy to put down. If a murder mystery takes until Chapter 8 before someone gets killed, the chapters before have to be compelling and this one wasnt. As far as the history goeswell, it seemed to me that it was mostly a list of possessions with some name dropping. No explanations about what made the furniture attractive, why Philip Syng Jr. was one of the foremost silversmiths and how can one identify his work; or what made the quilt by Betsy Ross so desirable.
As for the characters themselves I rarely enjoy books with nasty characters, they mostly make me cringe, maybe because there are too many nasty types in real life. The only writer I can think of who can make that work is Robert Barnard. Ms. Hill isnt in his league. The main character is rather dull, I never warmed to her, and I couldnt figure out what was so lovable about her, or what made her so smart. And having another distant character invade the main characters thoughts was extremely strange. Millie is too wimpy to make caustic comments? What a loser! I picked out the two most likely murderers and one of them turned out to be the one who did it. I cant do that if it is a well-written mystery by an author I havent read before.
Conclusion: this is a forgettable book that doesnt have much to do with history. Its a cool idea, but this author wasnt able to carry it off.
As for the characters themselves I rarely enjoy books with nasty characters, they mostly make me cringe, maybe because there are too many nasty types in real life. The only writer I can think of who can make that work is Robert Barnard. Ms. Hill isnt in his league. The main character is rather dull, I never warmed to her, and I couldnt figure out what was so lovable about her, or what made her so smart. And having another distant character invade the main characters thoughts was extremely strange. Millie is too wimpy to make caustic comments? What a loser! I picked out the two most likely murderers and one of them turned out to be the one who did it. I cant do that if it is a well-written mystery by an author I havent read before.
Conclusion: this is a forgettable book that doesnt have much to do with history. Its a cool idea, but this author wasnt able to carry it off.
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