The Murders of Richard III, by Elizabeth Peters

After reading Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time, I was so fascinated by the controversy surrounding Richard III, that I ordered a few books about the subject. But meanwhile, I decided to reread a book I'd really liked before, by one of my favourite authors, Elizabeth Peters, The Murders of Richard III.

When attractive American Jacqueline Kirby is invited to an English country mansion for a weekend costume affair, she expects only one mystery. Since the hosts and guests are all fanatic devotees of King Richard III, they hope to clear his name of the 500-year-old accusation that he killed the little princes in the Tower of London.

The Murders of Richard III is not really about Richard in itself. It's basically a mystery which takes place during a meeting of a Ricardian society. It's members have gathered to do their usual thing, plus, the leader will be presenting a recently discovered letter which would supposedly exculpate Richard from some of the worst crimes he's accused of. Even so, there's enough Ricardian tidbits thrown around that the book really hit the spot. It's also quite a fascinating mystery on its own right, with a joker running around simulating the murders Richard is accused of.

Add to that, the presence of Jacqueline Kirby as the "detective". I love Jacqueline, she's a really kickass heroine, and it was fun to have this book narrated in 3rd person but from the POV of a character who's deeply infatuated with her.

Lots of fun, and very rereadable. My grade: a B.