"Castle Shade" by Laurie R. King

Well, what do you know?  I greatly liked two of Laurie R. King's Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes books in a row!  I very much enjoyed Riviera Gold last year, and I also had a jolly time reading Castle Shade!  That makes me quite happy :-)

Castle Shade picks right up where Riviera Gold left off, with Russell and Holmes on a train heading to Transylvania.  Someone is creating creepy and weird problems for Queen Marie of Roumania, the kinds of problems that make you think of vampires and witches and ancient curses.  Which, Russell and Holmes are convinced, all have very human sources and motivations.

Part of what I liked so much about this book was how escapist it was.  Nothing so suspenseful that I got stressed out on behalf of the characters.  The mystery is solid and entertaining, but even in the most exciting parts, I could read serenely on, confident that all would turn out well in the end.  And I really loved that.

Particularly Good Bits:

In some fairy tales, happily ever after is where things end.

In others, happiness is where the problems begin (p. 29).

I looked at my husband.  "Do you plan on indulging your flair for the dramatic throughout our time here?"

"I expect so," he said complacently (p. 45).  (This part made me stop reading and laugh aloud with delight.)

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for allusions to historical instances of people bathing in blood, impaling their enemies, and characters wondering if a sexual assault has taken place.  It hadn't, but it does get discussed.