Suspect Or Victim?

Another entry in the Julian Kestrel series:

Whom the Gods Love by Kate Ross
(1995, Regency Historical Mystery) 7/27/07
Grade: 4

After the death of his son, Alexander, Sir Malcolm Falkland asks Julian Kestrel to investigate. Although Julian is eager to do a bit of sleuthing, he soon finds that Alexander’s charming facade hid many dark secrets. As Julian investigates Alexander’s family, friends and servants, he finds more suspects than he expected - but which one was ultimately responsible?

A much stronger entry than the last book. The mystery is satisfyingly twisty, with clues and suspects around every corner. The gradual revealing of Alexander’s true character is well written and satisfying. Although there are a lot of charcters, each one is well depicted and so it’s fairly easy to keep track of everyone. We also get some intriguing glimpses into Julian’s background. My one minor quibble is Julian’s Poirot-like tendency to announce “Aha, now I know what this clue means” but then leave the reader in the dark for the next chapter or two. Sometimes this works, but sometimes it’s annoying. But overall, I found the mystery very satisfying.

This is definitely a "throwback" to a more old fashioned type of mystery: it's all about the clues and the personalities of the suspects, not the personal life of the detective (although a few hints here and there are welcomed). Kate Ross was really hitting her stride with this book, and for once I'm eagerly awaiting the next entry in the series.