In this excellent novel, the first in a new historical series, Dickinson draws on his experience as series editor of the BBC's three-part program about the British royal family, Monarchy, to weave a tale of blackmail and murder among the royals late in Victoria's reign. When the dissolute Prince of Wales is threatened with yet another scandal, Lord Francis Powerscourt, an Irish peer with a shadowy history of espionage, first tries to discover who's blackmailing and then who murdered the prince's equally dissolute eldest son, Prince Eddy. Through brief, deft visual descriptions and dialogue that's equally unforced, the author gives us a varied assortment of appealing characters. Scenery, too, from the cold coast of Norfolk to the tangled alleys of Venice, is rendered with fascinating verisimilitude. Dickinson's knowledge of the arts, history and literature is nothing if not exhaustive, and adds enormously to the overall background. Few authors could get away with such a cliché as "The gentlemen from The Times
are here"—yet Dickinson does, and makes it credible to boot. Similarly, Powerscourt's liquorish friend Lord Johnny Fitzgerald seems ripe for the stereotype of the drunken toff, but instead turns out to be one of the book's most engaging characters. The tension builds slowly (this is the year 1892, after all) but surely. Even if Prince Eddy wasn't really murdered (that he died of influenza is the "cover story" here), Dickinson can make us believe it for a while. One hopes to see more of Lord Powerscourt and his friends in the near future. (Jan. 4)
