I'm a bit sad about this book. The description and first look had so much promise but for me the plot and characters all seemed to fall a bit flat. This is a historical mystery which is usually right up my literary street. I can't quite put my finger on why it didn't work for me but I found myself struggling to push through it and probably wouldn't have finished it if I had borrowed it from the library, for example. I felt disconnected from the characters and perhaps because of that I found it difficult to keep my focus on tbe story or to maintain enough interest in the mystery. I did enjoy it more towards the end of the book but it seemed to take me a long time to get there and I am usually quite a fast reader. In parts the story didnt quite seem believable and in others it lacked the punch I felt it needed. I'm not sure what else to say about this, I really have mixed feelings about the book.