Somewhere within this book is a decent whodunnit - but I had some difficulty finding it. I found the plot unnecessarily complicated, with too many separate sub-plots and linked events. Too many times, I had to check back top see if I had missed something. Some of the conclusions arrived at on the way to solving the mysteries seemed to have been arrived at by intuition rather than deduction.
I also found myself increasingly distracted by the basic concept on which the book is built - the notion of Queen Elizabeth 2 as a solver of crimes - and by what was, for me, the intrusion of events around the royal family circle which had nothing to do with the story.
I do realise that this may be partly due to my lack of sympathy with the institution of royalty, and particularly with all the flummery surrounding it. If you don’t share that lack of sympathy, and if you can pay close attention to ensure you don’t get lost among the twists and turns of the plot, this may be just the book for you.
I also found myself increasingly distracted by the basic concept on which the book is built - the notion of Queen Elizabeth 2 as a solver of crimes - and by what was, for me, the intrusion of events around the royal family circle which had nothing to do with the story.
I do realise that this may be partly due to my lack of sympathy with the institution of royalty, and particularly with all the flummery surrounding it. If you don’t share that lack of sympathy, and if you can pay close attention to ensure you don’t get lost among the twists and turns of the plot, this may be just the book for you.