Bertie and the Tin-Man

I listened to this on audio, so I'm not sure how much of my enjoyment came from the story itself and how much from the wonderful presentation. But this book gave me several good chuckles as well as a decent brain-teaser. In understanding the detective, it helps to do a little research on the real-life Prince of Wales (Wikipedia will do). The scene between Bertie and his mother (Queen Victoria) was especially enhanced by knowing that in real life, Victoria did consider her eldest son pretty much of a wastrel. And apparently the descriptions of his marriage to Alex (fond, if not faithful) and his extracurricular activities (romantic and otherwise) are fairly close to the truth. The mystery itself was diverting, and I didn't figure it out (although I did anticipate the main twist). One note: The review titled "Great Victorian Mystery Novel" must actually be a review of some other book, because the plot is nothing like what the reviewer describes.

The background of the story is based on the true-life romance between Bertie, Prince of Wales and the beautiful Lady Daisy Brooke, Countess of Warwick. The setting is a country-house weekend at the estate of the latter, to which our sleuths have also been invited. Two murders occur, first that of a young servant and then that of a gentleman guest. Dark hints are dropped that many of the characters have secret motives for the fell deeds, ranging from blackmail to jealousy to anarchism. Sheridan focusses on the men, while Kate questions the women and servants of the house to get to the bottom of the mess