Wednesday, January 20, 2010

D is for D'Artagnan - The Alphabet In Historical Fiction



For my fourth installment of The Alphabet in Historical Fiction which is hosted by the lovely ladies over at Historical Tapestry, I read The Musketeer's Seamstress by Sarah D'Almeida (my first "D"), which stars the musketeers Aros, Porthos, Aramis and of course D'Artagnan (my second "D").

Alexandre Dumas's Four Musketeers - the noble Athos, the cunning Aramis, the loyal Porthos, and sharp-witted D'Artagnan - now add murder and mystery to their ranks as swashbuckling sleuths in the court of King Louis XIII.

Captivated by Aramis's passionate renderings of the lives of the saints, a Spanish noblewoman - and a childhood friend of the Queen - found more than spiritual solace n his arms. To protect her reputation, Aramis said she was his seamstress. But now her soul rests with God, taken from her while she was in a locked room with the dashing Musketeer.

Having unwisely fled the scene of the crime with the murder weapon and without his uniform. Aramis now must go into hiding and trust his compatriots to find the real killer before the Cardinal's men find him. For Queen Anne is bent on seeing swift justice for her dead friend - and the missing Musketeer is the only suspect.

I was excited about reading this book. I love Dumas' Musketeers. I've been a fan ever since I can remember...all those different movies versions and of course the cartoons, the French series where all the Musketeers were all animals (dogs, I think) comes to mind, I really enjoyed that one.

I think what I enjoyed the most about the book was the way the Musketeers interacted with each other, and also I loved getting a glimpse on their private lives and their personalities. I have mixed feelings about this book. Although I enjoyed the characters, the setting, and even the mystery, I found at times that it was dragging, basically it had a few dull moments.

I found out have way through the book that The Musketeers's Seamstress is actually the second book of the series. I won't be reading the first book, but I will be looking for the rest of the series. I sure I can survive a dull moment or two.

The Musketeer's Seamstress by Sarah D'Almeida (3.5/5) Historical Fiction: Mystery; Published: Berkley Prime Crime (4/07); Series: # 2, A Musketeer's Mystery; New Author; Alphabet Historical Challenge (4); Books 2010 (5);

4 comments:

Marg said...

This sounds like a fun read! I love the idea of reading another story about the Three Musketeers. Why won't you go back to the first book?

Kailana said...

I have never heard of this before.

Rowenna said...

Really interesting premise...too bad it dragged in places, but glad it was worth it!

Stephanie said...

There have been so many interesting spin-offs on the classics, and this one sounds good, even if it's too slow in places. Thanks for the review!