Book info

• Title Goodnight Sweet Prince
• Author David Dickinson
• Year 2001
• Genre Historical

Mystery surrounds the death of Queen Victoria's grandson England, 1892. Victoria, Queen and Empress, is in the 54th year of her reign, when her grandson Prince Eddy, eldest son of the Prince of Wales, is found slaughtered in his bed at Sandringham. Terrified of more royal scandal, the Prince of Wales and his spindoctors decide to cover up the facts and the murder is disguised as death by influenza. Lord Francis Powerscourt, an Irish investigator, is privately asked to find the killer. His quest takes him on a journey through the prince's debauched and dissolute past, across Europe to the misty waterways of Venice where, amidst scandal and suicide, Powerscourt finally unravels themystery of the sweet prince's last goodnight.

Thoughts

Wasn’t sure what to make of this one to start with, it took quite a long time to get going, and spent a considerable amount of time setting the groundwork for the characters. It wouldn’t really have been a problem except the nature of the book and the style of the writing meant it felt like we were being kept at arm’s length the entire time.

Once the action picked up, however, the book hit its stride and I really started to enjoy it. A good mystery, an interesting investigation, and the characters did come into their own and start to make their own impression. At the start, I didn’t think I would get through the book at all, but now having finished it, I might check out the second one in the series.

Rating: 3 / 5