King and Joker: A Crime Novel

By Peter Dickinson

Book Overview

In the cavernous halls of Buckingham Palace, a series of pranks lead to murder in this mystery by CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson

Princess Louise and her father, King Victor II of England, agree that life has become painfully dull. When she's not in school, Louise spends her days roaming the palace and fulfilling her royal duties while her father fusses over budgets and attempts to keep his family out of the tabloids. So when a prankster begins placing frogs on the breakfast trays, Louise delights in the break from routine--as does King Victor. But this innocent mischief soon escalates into bloodshed when a body is found in the palace.

In an attempt to quell his family's panic, King Victor resolves to catch the killer. At last he has a purpose--but the palace may be in greater danger than either he or Louise suspects.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1497684412
• ISBN13: 9781497684416
• Release Date: April 2015
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media LLC
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Very enjoyable mystery

Peter Dickinson is one of my favorite authors, so maybe I'm biased, but I really enjoyed this book. I suppose it's not one of Dickinson's best, but his standard is extremely high, so that's faint criticism--I do recommend it strongly. Because its heroine is a teenager, it almost belongs in his 'teenage' line of books, along with 'The Gift', 'AK', etc. But it's a mystery, which they are not, and it has a pretty sophisticated context. Dickinson routinely creates amazing contexts for his mysteries, often making them cross the line into science fiction, and this one--the heroine as Princess in an alternate-universe odd British royal family--is explored quite well. He carries on a theme--of the adolescent in danger of taking refuge in her own private universe, vs. forging mature relations to others--that he develops in a number of other books, especially two in 'The Changes' trilogy. The mystery runs intertwined with the process of the princess discovering who she is, a bigger challenge than is faced by the typical child, perhaps.

Another Royal Family Soap Opera

This alternative history mystery is as charming as page turning. Taking place in the present, a different royal family (Prince Edward Victor didn't die in the 1890's and leave his fiance free to marry his brother George to later become George V and Mary)is presented with a problem. Someone is killing courtiers and knows a long hidden royal secret. The tale, told by the kings' daughter, is a clever story of celebrity. love, and danger. This is thorougly recommended. It is followed by a sequeal.