Royal Gambit

This was a solid and enjoyable entry in the series, much more cohesive than Blitz and much more interesting (to me) than Stiletto, despite all the royal talk. (When will people stop talking about the British royal family like they're both good and interesting? At least these are fictional royals, which helped me suspend my disbelief.)

For me, the most interesting thing about this book, and about the trend of the series in general, is the way O'Malley is increasingly presenting the Checquy as, at best, a morally grey institution. Like. To be clear, he has been banging that drum since the first installment, but at this point he's got the whole song in place and he's singing very loudly indeed.

Lady Alix Mondegreen is an anomaly among Checquy pawns: she was left with her family so that she could grow up with the princess. A supernatural death among the royal family leaves her doing two jobs, investigator and lady-in-waiting. Regarded with some suspicion by both sides, she must juggle competing loyalties to help bring the case to a satisfactory conclusion--and to stay alive.

A worthy addition to a fun series.

fiction - paranormal spies in modern-day England (London); #4 in series but works fine as a standalone, as they all have different protagonists with different paranormal skills. I think I missed #3 and have long forgotten the details of 1 and 2, but quite enjoyed this even more than I expected to.
Book 4 follows Pawn Alix as she protects the Crown Princess (and England) from paranormal enemies; generally an easily enjoyable, recommendable series--lots of funny moments with quirky weirdness--and #4 is no exception. I liked how Alix got to work on her relationships with her younger sister and other people outside of her work; I also enjoyed the bits about her highly styled clothing--sometimes imbued with protective tech, sometimes spoiled show more by bodily fluids; romancewise, just a bare hint at the start of a relationship--which was fine too and made sense for Alix's character. Would gladly read more of these. show less

This is a little closer to a straight mystery novel than a spy story; it also firmly becomes Alternate History rather than Secret History (with a different set of recent monarchs, though no indication of when the two timelines diverged).

It's a nice story, though it has the whodunit's weakness that many of its strengths are plot and plot the first time through, at that; and the climax follows espionage tropes rather than mystery tropes, not quite playing fair by classic mystery standards. The central character is engaging and manages to resolve at least some of her developed problems in the resolution of the novel.

Overall, not deep but a fun read.

I still miss Duerden, but Quirk does a terrific job here. A copy editor should have pointed out that O'Malley needed to stop using the word "scrutinize" so often. Unlike the way The Rook alternates between "Thomas" and "Myfanwy" chapters, Stiletto between Odette and Felicity, and Blitz between the 40s and the present, Royal Gambit keeps its focus on Alexandra (but who herself moves between the Checquy and the palace as she and the investigative team try to discover who murdered the Prince of Wales.

I really expected that the motive was going to be manipulating the monarch's vote on appointments to the Checquy court, and that possibly the rebel faction revealed in the first book was still operating. The ultimate answer is OK, but seems a show more more awkward complication of this fictional world. show less