King and Joker

by Peter Dickinson

Book Overview

In the cavernous halls of Buckingham Palace, a series of pranks lead to murder in this mystery by CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson Princess Louise and her father, King Victor II of England,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1933397373
• ISBN13: 9781933397375
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Felony & Mayhem
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

Very enjoyable mystery

Peter Dickinson is one of my favorite authors, so maybe I'm biased, but I really enjoyed this book. I suppose it's not one of Dickinson's best, but his standard is extremely high, so that's faint criticism--I do recommend it strongly. Because its heroine is a teenager, it almost belongs in his 'teenage' line of books, along with 'The Gift', 'AK', etc. But it's a mystery, which they are not, and it has a pretty sophisticated context. Dickinson routinely creates amazing contexts for his mysteries, often making them cross the line into science fiction, and this one--the heroine as Princess in an alternate-universe odd British royal family--is explored quite well. He carries on a theme--of the adolescent in danger of taking refuge in her own private universe, vs. forging mature relations to others--that he develops in a number of other books, especially two in 'The Changes' trilogy. The mystery runs intertwined with the process of the princess discovering who she is, a bigger challenge than is faced by the typical child, perhaps.

Another Royal Family Soap Opera

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.