Book review. Sort of.

It’s still wintry outdoors and I’ve been feeling lousy from a cold so I hunkered down with a couple good books. Since then, I haven’t been terribly productive at anything but reading and swigging Nyquil. I thought I’d review one of the books for you, even though I’m having trouble remembering key details, like the title of the book. Death of Darkness. Instruments of Death. Instruments of Darkness! That’s it! I had to go look. It’s a Gothic-y mystery set in 1780s England that is very busy with the social networking of the day and very crowded with lots of people, both dead and alive, kinda like a big cocktail party but without all the blood.

Overall, I’d say it was a good book, but there were some problems with it, like too many minor characters and dead bodies that simply appeared. Two showed up in the first 25 pages and more piled on from there. No tension, no acts of murder, just dead bodies. I began to picture the serene countryside of Sussex being littered with stabbing victims.

And maybe it is! I’ve never been there. Regardless, the book was a good read, a page-turner and a faithful companion if you’re moping around the house with a bad cold. In addition to dead bodies, it’s the story of an earl, who may or may not be a rapist and murderer; land lotsa land; revenge of all stripes; the earl’s disinherited (and dead) heir; his alcoholic and possibly homosexual other son; an anatomist; more colorful villagers than you can shake a stick at, several straight-arrow characters from London, three orphaned children, two powerful women, a cheap cameo brooch and one great big fire. The end.

I’m so happy I could provide this book review. No no, don’t thank me. Just pass the Nyquil.

Sussex, victims not included