Customer Reviews

King and Joker

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This alternative history mystery is as charming as page turning. Taking place in the present, a different royal family (Prince Edward Victor didn't die in the 1890's and leave his fiance free to marry his brother George to later become George V and Mary)is presented with a problem. Someone is killing courtiers and knows a long hidden royal secret. The tale, told by the kings' daughter, is a clever story of celebrity. love, and danger. This is thorougly recommended. It is followed by a sequeal.

Dickinson engages in gratuitous racism to make the employees of the British Royal Family sound as though they were still in the 1920s or 1930s. Since the book was written in 1976 and takes place in that time period, there is no cause to use the N-word. I dislike the casual racism of British authors, but it is particularly bad when someone like Dickinson does it to show off. I am assuming that the fact that he grew up in Zimbabwe has nothing to do with this. I am disappointed in Felony and Mayhem, whose republishing I like, put up with this. They should know better.

Interesting idea for a history/mystery -- a contemporary British royal family (not the current Windsor bunch) with a big secret that sets off a spiral of practical jokes, ending in murder. The story is narrated by a precocious 13-year Princess Royal, who is also the principal sleuth and mystery-solver.

This novel has its moments, but mostly it sputters along without much edge to it and with a lack of real depth to the characters involved. When the murder mystery is finally solved, the perpetrator'(s) motivations are far from convincing. In fact, they are not even very interesting.

"King and Joker" is one of the "archival" mysteries resurrected by Felony and Mayhem Publishers which has generally brought back to the market some terrific novels by first-rate writers. This title is one of their occasional flops, in my opinion.

I looked around to find King and Joker because I had so much enjoyed the sequel, Skeleton-in-Waiting. I was disappointed with it and agree with another reviewer that it is slow-moving and rather unconvincing, motivation-wise. If you can find Skeleton, I think you'll prefer it to the first mystery.