I found the story to be interesting, however I gave up reading the book a third of the way through. The author's writing style was a turn off for me. In many ways I felt as if I was reading a script rather than a book. The author wrote as if he was directing the action instead of painting out the details of events that were going on.Being a resident of Virginia, it would have been nice to know what happened. That said, it just wasn't worth the time to slog through the rest of the book to get there. This book was ok. I like historical fiction based on real events, like Erik Larson's books. This one starts out ok but once we get to the trial and wait for the sentencing I just found myself thinking get to the point already. Up until the trial the background of everything that happened had me captivated but once Cluverius went to trial and there were all these doubts about his guilt including him telling different stories I didn't like the book as much. The ending was an interesting conclusion to the conflict between the brothers and Lillie's past life.
Loved the setting and thought the writing was well done. I just felt like it dragged on in parts.
—mikeymikey
This was very interesting to read - Richmond in the 1800-1900's - Would love a sequel.
—Sam
Interesting historical crime drama that I could not put down.
—Eka
4.5 stars
—Melissa
3.5 stars
—Lols