Love and Death Among the Cheetahs (Royal Spyness, #13)

Love and Death Among the CheetahsLove and Death Among the Cheetahs
by Rhys Bowen
Rating: ★★★★
Series: Royal Spyness #13
Publication Date: August 6, 2019
Pages: 304
Publisher: Berkley

The author starts this instalment with an apology in advance; the book is set in Africa – Kenya – during the late 20’s/early 30’s, a time when race relations and the views of the British Empire (as were the rest of the world) were shameful.

This had me braced for difficult reading, but I have to say, that was not the disclaimer I needed.  In true cozy style, Bowen acknowledged the dichotomy and inequality between white and black without really verbalising it.  What caught me unawares (and shouldn’t have; I can only wonder if the pre-apology diverted me), was the casual references to hunting big game.  Of course it was a thing back then, and of course I should have seen it coming.

The other unexpected part of the story was the behaviour of the upper class in Kenya; a risqué path for a cozy, but done well by the author, and based on actual events and a real person: Lady Idina Sackville.  Bowen closes with a short bibliography of texts she used in an effort to write about the times accurately.

All in all, another enjoyable instalment in a long-running series that has remained fairly strong throughout, balancing cheeky naiveté and interesting murder plots.

9 thoughts on “Love and Death Among the Cheetahs (Royal Spyness, #13)”

    1. Knowing almost nothing about Lady Idina, I can’t say how faithful a representation it is. but faithful or not, it’s a cozy, so that air of naiveté is still overlaid across the story. Not sure if you’d find it more interesting that the first one or not – though I think the first one (maybe 3) were the fluffiest of the lot. Even I had a time of it swallowing Georgie in the first book.

      1. I’m toying with the idea of making January a “try something new” month. (The rest of this year will be taken up by the Mt. TBR project, HW Bingo, my annual November WWI reads and then Christmas…)
        I’ve got a couple of Sci-fi books that I acquired out of curiosity (read the first chapter of The Sparrow and am really keen to get back to it but alas) and I think they’ll have to wait until Jan, too. So, I might just make it a new project for a month – including a couple of more Bowens and The Glass Thief.

        1. Sounds like it could be an interesting January. 🙂 I have opinions on the Bowens, btw, if you plan on readign more than 1. ::grin:: I really think The Twelve Clues of Christmas might be the best one in the series. It’s book 6, and it’s still totally a cozy, but I just loved the plot, which was very un-cozy.

            1. If you can fit it in in December, yes. It’s definitely a Christmas mystery.

              Now, you realise, if you don’t like it I’m never, ever recommending another book to you again. 😀

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