GoodReads meta-data is 360 pages, Rated 4.11 by 3005 litizens
Genus: krimi, species Sherlock, hybrid Mrs Holmes.
Mrs Sherlock Holmes (yes, you read that right) tackles vampires in this outing. After a sojourn in Monaco (wherein Monte Carlo is a hill on which the richest live) the Holmeses have decamped to the Carpathian mountains in dark and mysterious Roumania. In fact, Sherl went alone earlier while Mrs was still settling Rivera hash, and then he returned to fetch her along for the ride. And not just the Carpathians, but, yes, Transylvania (and not the so-named county in Kentucky). Holmes learns Roumanian in a few hours. Well, he is Sherlock.
The trolls have been posting threats against Queen M’s youngest daughter, and after consulting the shade of granny Vicky, Queenie enlists Sherl to square the deal. There be vampires!? Well maybe, but more likely someone wants to create panic about such creatures to blame the Queen, using the same playbook found in D.C. of late: the bigger the lie, the better. Can the Moloch Media be far away?
They are riding to the aid of one of Queen Victoria’s grand offspring, Marie of Roumania, Queen by a marriage to a German princeling who found himself on the Bucharest throne. Later the post-War communist regime devoted much energy to denigrating her, suggesting that she might have done good works. The king is an invalid and the crown Prince a wastrel who resents his mother’s efforts to rei(g)n him in while dad-king is too enervated to cope, leaving Marie the top dog.
Could the plot to discredit her be political? Nationalists who reject a foreign queen? Communists who see an opportunity with the king and eldest son useless? Is it international with Hungary aiming to reclaim turf? Is it about money? Or….is the personal political and vice versa?
The telling is superb though the villain was not altogether convincing but the trip through Transylvania was great fun. Strange what one finds in castle walls.
The Princess Ileana who figures in this story died in 1991 after years as the Mother Superior in a convent in Ohio. From Princess of the realm to negotiating the roster for cleaning the toilets is her story.