Royal Whodunnits

I am not a big fan of short story anthologies. I usually find a few that I enjoy, and equal number that I loathe, most that are enjoyable enough ways to pass the time, and, if I'm lucky, one really great story that makes the purchase worthwhile. I was torn between giving this 4 and 5 stars. Four because none of these stories was a "great", that I will always want to go back to, but almost all of them were very good and interesting. There were none that I thought were truly bad. On this basis, I am going to give Mike Ashley's other anthologies a try. The stories move over something like a thousand years in time, and I enjoyed the constantly changing times, places and people. They range from almost gruesome to very funny. Not being a historian, I cannot say how accurate they all were, but the ambience was generally very well evoked. One comment as a matter of taste. Many of the stories are very cynical, which is actually quite appropriate, given the royal subjects. Mysteries usually concern themselves justice, but don't count on it here!

In his introduction to this collection, Paul Doherty writes that " a number of (the British) monarchs have met highly suspicious deaths, or disappeared under mysterious circumstances" and then proceeds to give some delectable morsels of royal intrigue, mayhem, and murder. In "Royal Whodunnits" Ashley has brought together 25 "tales" of this nature in an intriguing compendium, to say the least. Popular--and good--writers contribute, from Edward Marston to Peter Tremayne to Susanna Gregory to Margaret Frazer, to name but four. Of course, the collection is fiction--and should be read as so--but intriguing, exciting, and suspenseful nevertheless. The subjects range from Richard II, William the Conqueror, Richard the Lionheart, the Princes in the Tower, Edward II, and Henry VIII, again to name a few. Anglophiles--and even others, if there are any!--will find this a good read! ([email protected])

25 stories involving two favorite subjects mysteries and the royal family.Authors are: M.G. Owen, Peter Tremayne, Mary Reed & Eric Mayer, Tom Holt, Susanna Gregory, Tina & Tony Rath, Liz Holiday, Mary Monica Pulver, Renee Vink, Jean Davidson, Edward Marston, Cherith Baldry, Margaret Frazer, Amy Myers, Claire Griffen, Derek Wilson, Paul Barnett, Robert Franks, Andrew Lane, John T. Aquino, Edward D. Hoch, Martin Edwards, Stephen Baxter, Richard A. Lupoff, Morgan Llywelyn.Having read this for a reading group, I found no one in the group who felt disappointed in ROYAL WHODUNNITS. Each writer has a voice of his/her own. Each mystery involves a member of the royal family. I was impressed with the knot-tying concept in The Snow of Saint Stephen by M.G. Owen. My favorite was Night's Black Agents by Peter Tremayne - the ending made me gasp. You will find another Mary Reed - Eric Mayer's short story in here also. Their character John the Eunuch, who made his debut in HISTORICAL WHODUNNITS, and now has his own mystery series.The historical aspects in this anthology are rich and impressive. It's so detailed that reading it in one sitting will be impossible; expect to carry it around and enjoy it for a while. You will get your money's worth with Royal Whodunnits.