A fine tapestry of murder tries so hard to be something it isn’t. I stopped reading it for a couple of days because of other commitments and when I came back to it, I found I just didn’t want to worry about seeing how it ended. By the reviews of other readers, I don’t appear to have missed anything.

This book follows Anne-Marie Bruno, a wife living in the Gobelins Royal Manufactory, as she gets entangled in a plot of murder, espionage and royalty. The presentation of the different industries within the Gobelins is fascinating, and, where possible, historically accurate, and depicts a lively and creative setting in which the murder case develops. The plot itself details elements of the French war in the Netherlands and gives a glimpse into the life both of Parisienne workers and the royal court and ducal residences of the French elite. This creates a rich, detailed picture of 17th century Paris.

The female protagonist first appears strong and defiant in the face of police indifference, and the reader sympathises with her determination to find the widow and child of the dead man. However, this becomes undermined by Anne-Marie's constant self-deprecation as she repeatedly refers to herself as fat - perhaps this is a minor point, but for me it distracted from the plot and felt quite unnecessary. As the book progresses she becomes more whiny, almost a different character from the strong, curious woman at the beginning.

The book provides a interesting glimpse into the lives of the French elite, with a focus on the Duc de Languedoc and his rivalry with the Marquis de Louvois. The implication that the Marquis is somewhat tied into the tale of murder and espionage is an interesting one, and yet it never fully develops. There are hints and clues that suggest his involvement, yet by the end nothing is done about this. A more detailed version of events is needed to satisfactorily round off this part of the plot. Nevertheless, this book is an enjoyable murder mystery, set in the intriguing background of 17th century Paris.

Oh dear, I had such high expectations for this book. It's been a while since I read a historical fiction set in France and I was anticipating excitement and intrigue, yet this book was simply not delivering. It was drawn-out, unnecessarily complicated and often confusing. Definitely not a book for me.

This book follows Anne-Marie Bruno, a wife living in the Gobelins Royal Manufactory, as she gets entangled in a plot of murder, espionage and royalty. The presentation of the different industries within the Gobelins is fascinating, and, where possible, historically accurate, and depicts a lively and creative setting in which the murder case develops. The plot itself details elements of the French war in the Netherlands and gives a glimpse into the life both of Parisienne workers and the royal court and ducal residences of the French elite. This creates a rich, detailed picture of 17th century Paris.
The female protagonist first appears strong and defiant in the face of police indifference, and the reader sympathises with her determination to find the widow and child of the dead man. However, this becomes undermined by Anne-Marie's constant self-deprecation as she repeatedly refers to herself as fat - perhaps this is a minor point, but for me it distracted from the plot and felt quite unnecessary. As the book progresses she becomes more whiny, almost a different character from the strong, curious woman at the beginning.
The book provides a interesting glimpse into the lives of the French elite, with a focus on the Duc de Languedoc and his rivalry with the Marquis de Louvois. The implication that the Marquis is somewhat tied into the tale of murder and espionage is an interesting one, and yet it never fully develops. There are hints and clues that suggest his involvement, yet by the end nothing is done about this. A more detailed version of events is needed to satisfactorily round off this part of the plot. Nevertheless, this book is an enjoyable murder mystery, set in the intriguing background of 17th century Paris.

17th Century Paris and a dead man is pulled out of the river by the Gobelins, the Royal workshops. He has been murdered but no-one seems to to care except Anne-Marie Bruno, wife of one of the carvers, as she believes he has a wife and family. Although warned not to investigate Anne-Marie does so, a decision that brings her into contact with both the nobility of the day and a deadly assassin.
This book felt much longer than it actually was as I thought it took a long time to get going. Once into the swing of the plot though I really enjoyed the story. Yes, there are huge holes in the plot but they didn't get in the way of a fairly solid historical thriller with an interesting setting.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine


Historical fiction is a real love of mine so I was excited to be given the opportunity to read this

I thought the story was great and I really liked the characters

I thought it was interesting to reveal the murderer so early in the books but I felt that some of the drama was then disappeared and generally I like a twist at the end, and found that I missed it

So, although I enjoyed the book, I didn't love it or feel I needed to rave to friends about it

I received an e-arc of this free from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Headline Accent .

I was rather surprised to find that this book was not already on goodreads when I came to read it.

Set in Paris under Louis XIV's rule, the book follows Niccolo and Ann-Marie after a dead man washes up near to their workplace and they (rather quickly) get swept up in solving the crime.

The book has some good points, likeable characters and a half good mystery. Ann-Marie is feisty and to be honest I thought treated above her station (both in wealth, and as a woman for the time period this is set it) which to be honest, took away from the realism a little bit. Ann-Marie simply would not have been treat like that in this time period and whilst it's important to portray strong women in fiction, it's also important to acknowledge their difficult past.
I have to say though, one of the really good point about the author's writing is, I feel, the fact that no matter how small a part characters had, they were extremely well written and felt human. The Duc and his daughter in particular were very likeable.

I didn't much enjoy having the murderer revealed to me less than halfway through the book. It lead to a loss of intrigue, and I simply didn't find the character threatening or scary AT ALL which is kind of important in these kind of books. I was reading this book progressively losing interest in the culmination of the plot and it just ended up falling a little flat for me.
This book also has a WHOLE LOT of body shaming in it, drawing constant attention to the weight of the main character (a woman) and I don't recall it EVER being mentioned in relation to her husband. It left a really bad taste in my mouth.

I'm very grateful to have been able to read this book, but I'm afraid that all in all, I didn't love it.