Butler's improbable second Major Mearns historical whodunit (after 2000's The King Cried Murder
) may disappoint fans of the British author's long-running John Coffin series. In the early 1820s, the British royal court is on pins and needles with the ascent to the throne of George IV, feared to have the same mental problems as his more notorious father, George III. Amid this uncertainty, Major Mearns and Sergeant Denny, who have a covert assignment to keep an eye on Windsor Castle, receive a ghoulish parcel containing body parts. Their pursuit of the identity of the victim, and his killer, leads them to further bodies, but the solution is rather anticlimactic. The book's contrived final revelation—concerning the real identity of a young runaway who helps the sleuths—may irk historically exacting readers. (Apr.)
