It is WONDERFUL, I'm so happy I read it and it will probably be a comfort re-read at some point (many points) in the future.
I also loved how much of the actual mystery-solving process involved analyzing the complicated web of alliances and vengeance and court intrigue; it was both a convention of murder mysteries (who has the motive?) and a peek into this utterly unfamiliar world. I loved getting a Kay-eyed view of King Arthur's court - what it takes to actually run it on a day-to-day basis, the process of actually becoming a knight if you can't just roll up like HEY, I WANT TO AVENGE MY FATHER - because it was so different to the more... quest-focused stories of, say, Steinbeck's adaption of Malory.
(I do need to actually read Malory, at some point. I recently started to read Le Mort d'Arthur - yay, free iBooks! - but gave up in despair at the combination of ye olde grammar/spelling/sentence structure, no page breaks, and 3-4 chapters in a row that were titled along the lines of "more stuff that happens in the same battle!")
no subject
I also loved how much of the actual mystery-solving process involved analyzing the complicated web of alliances and vengeance and court intrigue; it was both a convention of murder mysteries (who has the motive?) and a peek into this utterly unfamiliar world. I loved getting a Kay-eyed view of King Arthur's court - what it takes to actually run it on a day-to-day basis, the process of actually becoming a knight if you can't just roll up like HEY, I WANT TO AVENGE MY FATHER - because it was so different to the more... quest-focused stories of, say, Steinbeck's adaption of Malory.
(I do need to actually read Malory, at some point. I recently started to read Le Mort d'Arthur - yay, free iBooks! - but gave up in despair at the combination of ye olde grammar/spelling/sentence structure, no page breaks, and 3-4 chapters in a row that were titled along the lines of "more stuff that happens in the same battle!")