{"id":9205,"date":"2017-08-18T09:21:08","date_gmt":"2017-08-18T13:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=9205"},"modified":"2025-10-01T17:03:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T21:03:41","slug":"banquet-of-lies-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9205","title":{"rendered":"Banquet of Lies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Banquet of Lies<\/a><\/em> (2013) Michelle Diener<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Set in England in 1812.<\/p>\n

Giselle Barrington has spent her life following her father around Europe, collecting folklore and working secretly for the Crown. She’s developed her own strange passion: food, recipes, and cooking.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you do with the recipes?\u201d The woman looked genuinely interested now. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m compiling a reference work of dishes from the cultures of Europe. But mainly I follow them.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cFollow them . . .\u201d Confused, the woman looked around the crowded room, as if the people swirling around them could help her. \u201cHow?\u201d <\/p>\n

Gigi smiled. \u201cThe usual way. In the kitchen.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYou make the dishes?\u201d The woman tapped Gigi on the arm with her fan. \u201cWith the servants?\u201d Her voice was a squeak. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith the chef who has accompanied us for the last ten years.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAh.\u201d <\/p>\n

A chef was different. A giant step up from a cook.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I especially like how this love of food and cooking is entirely natural, given her past. Yes, it is strange, but it’s not illogical.<\/p>\n

Lord Aldridge was called home from the army after his brother’s unexpected death and his rising to become heir. His service in the military has allowed him to serve the Crown in a different manner now–in the intelligence service.<\/p>\n

I especially love how it’s clear and reasonable that Gigi would have no idea who to turn to after her father’s murder.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless her father told her, and I doubt he would have, knowing how sensitive this was. She wouldn\u2019t know who to contact.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thus her need to hide is reasonable and not manufactured.<\/p>\n

I also like that–since she has had an unusual childhood, she sees things others would miss.<\/p>\n

She was far too thin, and Gigi wondered if she was being starved here. It hardly seemed possible, and she didn\u2019t think Iris was someone who would stand for that, but the evidence couldn\u2019t be dismissed. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t mind what I eat, Cook. It\u2019s all good to me.\u201d Mavis blushed at being spoken to directly, and fiddled with her straight brown hair. \u201cNever had too much at home. Too many of us, see? Five brothers and two sisters. And me brothers, they took as much as they could grab. Never was much left for us girls.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been fattening Mavis up,\u201d Iris said, and something in the way she said it made Gigi go very still. <\/p>\n

If this was evidence of Mavis with more meat on her bones, she must have been a walking skeleton when she\u2019d gotten here.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another thing I especially like is that there are two separate bad guys in this story. One, the usual–a turncoat working for money, but the other, and common man who has worked his way up from nothing, and does bad things not because he is a bad person, but because he is afraid of losing his position. It makes the things he does all the more heart breaking, because you know why he does then, and you can see that he realizes when he has done wrong. <\/p>\n

That man is far more interesting than the turncoat.<\/p>\n

Plus, I LOVE who takes out the bad guy, in the end.
\nRating: 9.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Gallery Books<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener Set in England in 1812. Giselle Barrington has spent her life following her father around Europe, collecting folklore and working secretly for the Crown. She’s developed her own strange passion: food, recipes, and cooking. \u201cWhat do you do with the recipes?\u201d The woman looked genuinely interested now. \u201cI\u2019m compiling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"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":false,"_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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[192,30,668,24,33,8,41,26],"tags":[616,213,251,547],"class_list":["post-9205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-5-10","category-british","category-comfort-read","category-food","category-historical","category-mystery","category-reread","category-romance","tag-cooking","tag-grief","tag-michelle-diener","tag-napoleonic-era"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2ot","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5752,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5752","url_meta":{"origin":9205,"position":0},"title":"Banquet of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"March 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener Set in London in 1812 Giselle Barrington is the daughter of a folklorist with a fascination for cooking. \u201cWhat do you do with the recipes?\u201d The woman looked genuinely interested now. \u201cI\u2019m compiling a reference work of dishes from the cultures of Europe. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Banquet-of-Lies.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11624,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11624","url_meta":{"origin":9205,"position":1},"title":"Banquet of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"February 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener Set in London in 1812. This is my favorite book in this series--and I like the other two books quite well. Giselle Barrington has seen her father murdered for the secrets her carries. She manages to escape back to London, but does not know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Banquet-of-Lies-e1511038599836.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12639,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12639","url_meta":{"origin":9205,"position":2},"title":"Banquet of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"March 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in England in 1812. After reading Death Below Stairs I wanted to re-read a favorite of mine that also features a woman working as a cook in historical Britain. Every time I read this I love it a little bit more--there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Banquet of Lies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Banquet-of-Lies-659x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23609,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23609","url_meta":{"origin":9205,"position":3},"title":"Banquet of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"May 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in London in 1812. Another favorite. \u201cWe\u2019ve been fattening Mavis up,\u201d Iris said, and something in the way she said it made Gigi go very still. If this was evidence of Mavis with more meat on her bones, she must have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Banquet of Lies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Banquet-of-Lies-e1511038599836.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21707,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21707","url_meta":{"origin":9205,"position":4},"title":"Banquet of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"March 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (Regency London) Set in London in 1812. After witnessing the murder of her father, Giselle Barrington flees back to London. She cannot give into her grief, for she has to find someone to take the information she holds. (H)e\u2019d be looking for the document\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Banquet of Lies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Banquet-of-Lies-e1511038599836.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24417,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24417","url_meta":{"origin":9205,"position":5},"title":"Banquet of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"April 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Banquet of Lies (2013) Michelle Diener (Regency London #2) Set in London in 1812 \u201cHe reacted without thinking.\u201d \u201cHow can you send someone out to starve without thinking?\u201d Iris asked, her voice soft.\u201cWe\u2019ve been fattening Mavis up,\u201d Iris said, and something in the way she said it made Gigi go\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Banquet of Lies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Banquet-of-Lies.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\/9205","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}