It took me a while to get into at first but I ended up being pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. The author describes Rome so beautifully that it really came alive for me as I read on, I just wanted to go back to Italy immediately! The story is told through dual narratives which I’m a big fan of, and I loved how the two timelines came together at the end.
The mystery/thriller aspect of the book was definitely my favourite, it kept me guessing throughout but I did struggle with some of the more political passages. They didn’t flow as well as the rest of the book and I found myself a little confused but this could be more to do with my complete lack of knowledge around this time period and it’s political affairs.
Overall, I ended up enjoying this one a lot more than I initially thought I would and I’d definitely like to read more of Buchan’s books in future.