Mer Barr

It wasn't the murder mystery element that interested me but the dynamics of the cities. The beginning is great as you try to understand the rules, the middle is quite slow because it's mainly the murder, but the really interesting part of the story is towards the end; during the big reveal. The pace is, of course, quicker but trying to keep up with both the reveal and the dynamics is to fascinating part.

Light-hearted, intriguing characters, lots of interesting interactions between characters, intriguing growth in most characters, interesting twists, and a mystery that stretches out for quite some time.

The only drawback is alot of the above is drawn out overly, creating alot of 'keep it moving' hand gestures on my part.

I'm always hesitant when I start the second book in a series because they either aren't about the characters I came to love in book one or it may be the same characters but the storyline is lacking in some quality that the first book had. This book is neither.

The references to the nursery rhymes of the 50 to 70s remind me alot of Ready Player One where you have to have lived in the era to understand the references. Here you have that requirement but this is not really about homage but about creatively tweaking those childhood stories.

It has plenty of complexity to keep the murder mystery good to the very end AND you have many of the same characters from book one.

A fantastic bibliography of Austen's works as well as books Austen refers to in her stories or personal journals and letters. Also a great mix of the author's life as a rare book dealer and her industry, and the biographies of the female authors Austen references.

Starts out rather slow but in hindsight the author is set up something to compare to later and giving background on the various players. I liked it well enough to move on to the next in the series and would consider a reread years later. When I've forgotten the details enough to enjoy again, or if I find out later, there are layers to the story that I didn't pick up on the first time around that would become apparent with another read.

NPR on a regular basis checks in with bookstore owners around the country to see what they would recommend for the upcoming reading season; this was one of those recommends.