Review : A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate by Susanna Calkins
A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate by Susanna Calkins
Pages : 352
Genre : Historical fiction, Mystery
Stand alone
My Rating : 4/5
What it’s about :
Lucy knows she is the only one she can count on to free her brother. Against the magistrate’s son best recommendation, she takes it onto herself to find out who the killer is.
My Thoughts :
I hadn’t realized, until reading A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate, how much I had missed reading historical mysteries. There’s an unpredictable nature to them that can’t be replicated except maybe in speculative fiction, in the fact that I am never familiar enough with the times past to fully know what to expect. The characters, the technology, the daily life activities are all coated in a sort of fog that I can only pierce through with the author’s help.
Susanna Calkins definitely succeeded here in taking me back to the 17th century, and making it real to me. While the novel isn’t overflowing with details about the period, it was just enough to create a vivid picture in my mind without slowing the story. The political and religious setting was done well, too, I felt. I was transported in time and pushed to imagine what it would have been living then and there.
I immediately warmed up to Lucy, even though she was at times stupidly brave (but then, most heroines are!) There was also a great cast of characters around her, and though I sometimes felt that we didn’t really get to know them, I enjoyed the diversity in class, age, and all.
I also appreciated that the drama was light; the novel wasn’t about numerous ohmygod-twists and ridiculous misunderstandings, but rather straightforward without being boring or too predictable. Also, not very heavy on romance, which was surprising in a nice way. There’s just a glimpse of it to make the story more pleasant and human, but it wasn’t overwhelming the story.
All in all, I quite enjoyed Susanna Calkins’ first novel. Her writing was smooth and easy, and her decision to modernize the language (which doesn’t always worked) helped me believe the story and the characters. I will be looking out for her next novel, which for now seems to be coming out next April.
A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate is available for sale right now! Thanks to Minotaur Books for generously providing a digital copy of the book for this review.
OMG, Kay, another one you made me want to read! haha Not all books in English get imported to Brazil, which means sometimes we have to find out about them online and then ask book stores to buy them for us. I intend to do that to this one soon! (:
I enjoyed A Murder At Rosamund’s Gate this month too. It was a fast read for me as it held my interest and I wanted to find out what was going to happen next. It started out in 1665 and contained interesting information about the time. Information was given about the courts, legal system, prisons, some cleaning methods, historical events and even what one person used for a deodorant.
Lucy was a very likable character and one couldn’t help but rooting for her. I have not read many historical mysteries before this book. I haven’t read any that went this far back in history. I think one of the biggest compliments one can give a book, is that now I am interested in seeking out other historical mysteries books after enjoying this book. I am looking forward to Susanna’s next book.