The Judas Kiss

“The Judas Kiss” intrigued me from the beginning with its great hook of an opening line:

“I was seventeen years old before I discovered that my sister had been murdered.”

The usual amount of suspense you expect from a Holt novel is in evidence, but while many of her other books have predictable outcomes for certain themes and characters, this one has very few. Pleased to state that I was surprised by some revelations, while other matters that I thought were obvious turned out to be red herrings.

Okay, some things were predictable, but in the most part, the author succeeds in shrouding events in mystery, and surprising the reader – this one, at least – with the way these mysteries are resolved.

The plot is varied and winding, show more with changes of setting and mood. The main character, Pippa, is determined to prove that her murdered sister was married to an important foreign noble, and that he was not his mistress as all assumed. Pippa also means to discover the couple’s child, which nobody believes to have existed. This drive and determination keeps the story moving forward with no lulls.

The characters are well-developed. Pippa makes a good heroine and I liked her. Also liked her unfortunate sister and their friend Daisy.

Countess Freya was my favourite character. She lives in something of a dream world, which made her endearing and funny. show less

Recently I started reading through a number of Victoria Holt's books for the first time. I'd been put off her as an author after several failed attempts at 'The Night of the Seventh Moon' but then I picked up Mistress of Mellyn and realised I'd been unfair. So far I've chewed through Mistress of Mellyn, Kirkland Revels, Manfreya in the Morning and now The Judas Kiss.

Out of all of these, The Judas Kiss has definitely been my favourite. I can't say whether it was that the characters seemed to be better defined or that the plot had more depth but whatever it was, it worked. I have a short attention span and it takes a special book to keep me hooked, The Judas Kiss managed to do that.

I think I've already mentioned that gothics are the first romances I ever read. I didn't realize at the time, of course, that they were romances--I considered them more a peculiar form of mystery. (Yes, my feet were wet, and I could see the pyramids.) I also considered them a guilty pleasure. Now, it's more nostalgia.

The Judas Kiss is about Pippa Ewell. She and her older sister Francine are orphaned and sent with to live with their cruel, controlling grandfather. He intends to marry Francine to their Cousin Arthur. Rescue comes in the form of foreigners at Granter's Grange, the neighboring estate. Francine runs off with Rudolph, heir to the ruler of a small Bavarian kingdom. Pippa gets a few letters from Francine, telling about her show more marriage and child, then the letters stop. Some time later, she learns that Francine had been killed when Rudolph was assassinated, and that nobody in Bruxenstein believes there was a wedding or a child.

Making things worse for Pippa, her grandfather has now transferred his plans to her, and intends for her to wed Cousin Arthur on her 17th birthday.

When foreigners return to Granter's Grange, Pippa meets and falls in love with Conrad, who she takes to be an upper-level servant of some sort. He asks her to come with him as his mistress, but she declines.

Hmmm. I'm going to be outlining the entire plot of the book if I keep this up. Not what I intended to do. Suffice it to say that Pippa ends up in Bruxenstein, looking for her nephew and evidence of her sister's marriage. She and Conrad are torn between love and duty, amid dangerous political machinations.

As with a lot of older gothic romances, I had a hard time believing either of the couples had truly fallen in love. It's almost as if the falling in love part is just too private to be mentioned--either that, or it's considered something along the lines of magic--something that "just happens" and has no rhyme or reason to it.

And I knew who Conrad was from the start, which made me think Pippa was... if not TSTL, at least pretty darn dumb.

Also, the murder whodunit was never really completely solved.

However, particularly once Pippa gets to Bruxenstein, the emotional angst is quite well done. If you accept that Pippa and Conrad are in love (and you pretty much have to accept it as a given, otherwise the rest of the story is pointless), they truly are caught between a rock and a hard place, both of them for different reasons.

I also appreciated the mystery of Francine's child. There were a couple of red herrings and wrong turns, and I was sure I knew who he was, but I was wrong.

Other than who killed Francine and Rudolph being assumed but never proven, the rest of the threads in the story were neatly tied up, including those I'd assumed had been forgotten. show less

Pippa Ewell and her sister Francine live an idyllic life on a tropical island. All that changes with the death of their parents. The sisters are sent to live with their hard-hearted grandfather who rules his manor with an iron fist. Francine rebels and runs away with the owner of the neighboring manor, a handsome and mysterious foreigner from a far-away land. Pippa is left alone to fend for herself, but Francine promises to write. Pippa grows up and finds herself romantically involved with Conrad, a handsome foreigner staying in the neighboring manor house. He is from the same Bavarian country that Francine ran away to and from whom Pippa has not heard from in many years. One day she finds a newspaper clipping in the attic and finds show more that Francine has been murdered. Determined to discover the truth behind her sister's death, Pippa travels to the far-off kingdom in disguise. As with all Victoria Holt novels, the ending is full of twists and turns and will not disappoint. show less

Victoria Holt not a new author she has written books for many years and this is the 2nd book I have read that she wrote. I enjoyed this story which begins with Phillipa (Pippa) Ewell finding a newspaper clipping and discovering her sister Francine was murdered. The story returns to the girls childhood and we learn they lived on their parents on an island after his father left his home when he pursued being an artist which was against his father's wishes. The girls parents died close together and since they had no where to go they were returned to their father's home Greysone Manor.

The grandfather welcomes the girls but has strict requirements for their upbringing as he did their father and his sister. Francine soon learns she is wed her show more cousin Arthur who is a man of the church and he will also inherit the home. Francine rants to Pippa she will never marry him she will leave first, she does not have long and a family that visits periodically shows up to open their home for a visit the girls decide to investigate the family who is German and they are discovered in the home. The girls are welcomed and invited to the a ball they will be hosting. The sisters begin to scheme on making a dress for Francine and getting her to the ball in secret. The plan works and Francine enjoys herself and meets a wonderful man who she decides to run away with to avoid marring her cousin.

Pippa receives a letter from Francine describing her quick marriage at a local church, and another letter detailing the birth of her son. Since her sister abandoned her duties at Greystone Manor Pippa learns her grandfather plans for her to marry Arthur now. Pippa has learned of her sister's death and decides she must also leave. Pippa is out walking the grounds when she discovers the neighbors will be visiting again soon and she meets Conrad who traveled ahead he sweeps he off her feet and he knows of her sisters murder she tells him of her marriage and child which Conrad explains that she could have never married nor was there a child.

With everything Pippa has recently discovered she makes plans to leave and discover the truth of what happened to her sister and her child The novel has great suspense and a wonderful story that keep me up reading. show less

I wasn't very fond of this book, didn't care for the writing style. The story was interesting enough, twists and turns along the way, keeping the reader guessing. It did turn out well in the end.

Pippa Ewell had left behind the dark and forbidding Greystone Manor -- also the memories of Conrad, the handsome stranger who had swept her breathlessly into his arms and heart. But Pippa returned to find the truth behind her sister's mysterious death. And suddenly the fairy-tale kindgom glittered with evil and danger . . .