I feel like every one of these columns recently starts with me marveling over how fast time is passing but for real, readers, how is it almost the end of June already?
On the plus side, we have several great books publishing soon, to close out our featured titles this month before turning to July (July! Already!) First off, we have Christina Dodd’s delightfully genre-crossing mystery Thus With A Kiss I Die. Narrated by the vivacious Rosie Montagu, daughter of the infamous star-crossed lovers of Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet (rumors of their deaths were, apparently, greatly premature,) this second book in her series continues her madcap adventures in life, love and amateur detecting.
Despite having fallen head over heels for Lysander in the prior novel, A Daughter Of Fair Verona, Rosie finds herself trapped in an engagement with Escalus, the Prince of Verona himself. So when his father, the deceased Prince Escalus the Elder, appears, asking her to solve his murder in exchange for helping to reunite her with her one true love, she barely hesitates. Sure, it’s weird that Elder is a ghost, but she did just unmask and stop the city’s first serial killer. How hard could this task be, especially with such a valuable prize waiting for her at the end?
Ms Dodd continues her forward-thinking, feminist romp through Shakespeare’s greatest hits by adapting Hamlet to her charming mash-up of mystery and history, through the lens of the irresistible, self-aware Rosie.