{"id":249,"date":"2006-05-13T21:57:47","date_gmt":"2006-05-14T01:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=249"},"modified":"2021-06-04T18:18:27","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T22:18:27","slug":"the-emperors-assassin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/249","title":{"rendered":"The Emperor’s Assassin"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Emperor’s Assassin<\/a><\/em> Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner (2003) T.F. Banks<\/a>
\naka Ian Dennis and Sean Russell<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Although this book was as well written as the previous, I found myself disappointed in the ending. The mystery was perhaps even better than the first book, however, it was a Hollywood ending, with guns a-blazing, shots fired, men dying, near death, etc. I know that these things sometimes happen, but such endings rank rather low on my believability scale.<\/p>\n

Which was entirely too bad, since up to that point this was an excellent mystery. <\/p>\n

The body of a young woman is found on the rocks, made to look as if in despair, she’d thrown herself to her death. However, Henry and the surgeon have their doubts, and thus Henry finds himself looking into her death, and involved in the deadly game of international politics.<\/p>\n

There were several things I absolutely loved about this book. I loved that they explained precisely how they used the woman’s clothing to find out her name. I also liked how Arabella was able to help Henry, and how her assistance seemed reasonable–even likely.<\/p>\n

Also well done was how Henry and Jimmy split the questioning. Henry with his more refined manner, questioning the lords and ladies, while Jimmy, child of the Cheapside, questioning the servants. I found the way they divided the labor reasonable, not only because of their mannerisms, but also because of their relationship.<\/p>\n

I also liked that we had brief glimpses of Lucy–she had a rough enough history, it’s good that Arabella continues to look after her, and it’s good that she wasn’t just discarded as a plot device from the last book, never to be seen again, unless the plot requires it. <\/p>\n

Henry’s family was an interesting twist as well. We met his mother in the last book. Now he is introduced to his half-sister, a woman who seems to been, in many ways, similar to Henry. If the series continues, I will be interested to see how their relationship develops.<\/p>\n

And I want to note that although there were blazing guns, at least the pistols were realistic for the time, including their temperamental nature and frequency of misfiring.<\/p>\n

So, other than the Hollywood ending, this was another excellent book. If you have not read the first book you should be able to begin here without much confusion, although as always, in a series it’s always better if you know the past history if the characters. I hope that they’ll continue with this series, but that they’ll skip the action\/adventure endings in the future.
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Emperor’s Assassin Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner (2003) T.F. Banks aka Ian Dennis and Sean Russell Although this book was as well written as the previous, I found myself disappointed in the ending. The mystery was perhaps even better than the first book, however, it was a Hollywood ending, with guns a-blazing, shots […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[30,2,33,8,291],"tags":[459,240,376],"class_list":["post-249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-british","category-fantasy","category-historical","category-mystery","category-paper","tag-memoirs-of-a-bow-street-runner","tag-sean-russell","tag-t-f-banks"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-41","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":247,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/247","url_meta":{"origin":249,"position":0},"title":"The Thief Taker","author":"Michelle","date":"May 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Thief Taker: Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner (2001) T.F. Banks aka Ian Dennis and Sean Russell I was browsing Sean Russell's web page, when I saw two books listed that I didn't own: The Thief Taker and The Emperor's Assassin. My immediate reaction was one of shock: Sean\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/Thief-Taker.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":260,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/260","url_meta":{"origin":249,"position":1},"title":"Whom the Gods Love","author":"Michelle","date":"May 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Whom the Gods Love (1995) Kate Ross Alexander Falkland has been killed. His head smashed in with a poker while one of his famous parties rages upstairs. But Alex is the darling of the ton (it took me awhile to figure this one out; the ton is the bon ton,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/Whom-Gods-Love.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":635,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/635","url_meta":{"origin":249,"position":2},"title":"The One Kingdom","author":"Michelle","date":"August 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The One Kingdom (2001) Sean Russell I love Sean Russell's writing. I've read everything he's written that I could get my hands on, including the mystery series he co-wrote as T.F. Banks. The One Kingdom and the other books he has written are very different from the supernatural fantasy that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/One-Kingdom.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":392,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/392","url_meta":{"origin":249,"position":3},"title":"Beneath the Vaulted Hills","author":"Michelle","date":"June 18, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Beneath the Vaulted Hills (1997) Sean Russell I've always been fond of Sean Russell's books. They're dense and complex, and I often understand them better on the second reading. But they're also beautifully crafted works full of marvelous characters. Unfortunately, Sean Russell has not published many books. Nine fantasy novels\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/06\/Beneath-the-Vaulted-Hills.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":284,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/284","url_meta":{"origin":249,"position":4},"title":"AWOL","author":"Michelle","date":"July 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"For those who don't read my regular blog, my grandmother is visiting, so things may be extra quiet around her for awhile. After all, I've got plenty to do recommending books for her to read! That would be Sarah Zettel's Camelot series, Naomi Novik, T.F. Banks, and maybe even Lian\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Paper"","block_context":{"text":"Paper","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/paper"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23611,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23611","url_meta":{"origin":249,"position":5},"title":"The Emperor’s Conspiracy","author":"Michelle","date":"May 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Emperor's Conspiracy (2012) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in England in 1811. Once you accept the premise of the relationship between Charlotte and Lady Howe, this is a fantastic mystery and romance. Lady Howe really is marvelous. \u201cThere is no man in this house,\u201d Catherine said into the silence.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Emperor's Conspiracy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/The-Emperors-Conspiracy-e1511011261344.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}