The Rival Queens

The gentle cover really makes me laugh because the book is anything but gentle. So! This is the second installment in the Countess Ashby de la Zouche mysteries series. We're in the company of our old friends the Countess and her former maid Alpiew for another adventure in Restoration England.
First things first - this book wasn't as good as Unnatural Fire, the first book of the series, perhaps because the first book is funnier and the whole introduction makes it so we have to get accustomed to a kind of bawdy and linguistic humour we just don't read about nowadays. Yet, The Rival Queens is engaging and comfortably draws upon the tradition of the Restoration comedy so it's pure entertainment from cover to cover, with as always an show more impeccable sense of the period and some dramatic irony thrown in for good measure (often they dismiss things or people as irrelevant/useless when we know today they ended up being hugely famous and sought after, which is always pleasant!). Highlights include a scene in a sex shop (even then called 'sex shop') and more heads chopped off than under the guillotine. Pick this one up for a good time!
As far as I'm concerned, it has definitely inspired me to dig deeper into Restoration comedy - I already have a few titles in mind to try later :) show less

The gentle cover really makes me laugh because the book is anything but gentle. So! This is the second installment in the Countess Ashby de la Zouche mysteries series. We're in the company of our old friends the Countess and her former maid Alpiew for another adventure in Restoration England.
First things first - this book wasn't as good as Unnatural Fire, the first book of the series, perhaps because the first book is funnier and the whole introduction makes it so we have to get accustomed to a kind of bawdy and linguistic humour we just don't read about nowadays. Yet, The Rival Queens is engaging and comfortably draws upon the tradition of the Restoration comedy so it's pure entertainment from cover to cover, with as always an show more impeccable sense of the period and some dramatic irony thrown in for good measure (often they dismiss things or people as irrelevant/useless when we know today they ended up being hugely famous and sought after, which is always pleasant!). Highlights include a scene in a sex shop (even then called 'sex shop') and more heads chopped off than under the guillotine. Pick this one up for a good time!
As far as I'm concerned, it has definitely inspired me to dig deeper into Restoration comedy - I already have a few titles in mind to try later :) show less

I have to say I love Morgan's books. They are a delight to read, the
characters are so well developed that I feel I know them. This is the
second in her Restoration England mystery series and it was better than the
first. The Countess and Alpiew are a couple of women I'd love to know, I
think. I like the way Alpiew thinks.

Ordinarily, I read a mystery and try to solve it as I go, but with these
books, I really don't care who did it, because the route to finding the
culprit is so delightful, I'm always sorry to see it end. Morgan's clues
are, as usual, well hidden, and one must use logic to figure it out,
something that the Countess is a bit short of but Alpiew has in spades. I
loved this book full of decapitated players, wooden teeth, and show more syphillis
sufferers. show less

A thoroughly enjoyable mystery filled with bawdy humor, highjinks, silliness, and colorful characters, but alas! - no royalty. The two queens are actually actresses of the London Theatre. When one of them quite literally loses her head, Lady Ashby de la Zouche, a relic of the Restoration Age, and her loyal, quick-thinking maid, Alpiew, are out to solve the crime. I had a few chuckles and cleared off some cobwebs after reading this cozy mystery. A fun read.

The Rival Queens was funny and effectively adapted the comedy of manners, see, e.g., Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play, The Rivals, into a novel form. I found it to be much more interesting than many actual manner comedies. The mystery plot was credible, and the story, while bawdy, was not boring.

An interesting light read. When I picked this up, I didn't realize it was a mystery or that it was the second in a series--yes, I just judged the book by its cover. But it kept me entertained and even guessing a bit over whodunit. It takes place in London in 1699, and the author made a point of dropping in little trivia about the time period to add to the atmosphere. Good for a plane or before-bed reading.

Fun book! Well written and researched. Great twisty plot. I will be on the lookout for other works by Fidelis Morgan!