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A review by eggcatsreads
Maude Horton's Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook
4.0
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Simon and Schuster for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A tale of a sister’s quest for revenge after the unjustified death of her sister, this book has a lot going for it to make any mystery lover intrigued. We follow Maude Horton (of the title) as she investigates the truth of how her sister died - and its coverup. Maude’s sister disguised as a cabin boy to go on an Arctic exploration and rescue - but she never comes home and no one will tell Maude exactly what happened. Told through dual timelines and 3 POVs - Maude, her killer, and the journal of her sister on this fateful journey - we slowly piece together the truth of what really happened out there on the ice.
I kind of feel this story might have been more interesting from Maude’s sister’s main POV, and I felt a bit too much of the narrative was in the mind of her killer (and to be honest, Maude’s “revenge” is only near the end) but otherwise this was a fun book to read. I think anyone who likes Victorian era historical fiction, mysteries, and doomed Arctic exploration tales would enjoy this book. Despite knowing who the “villain” of this tale is right at the start - Maude still needs to figure out a way to prove his guilt and exonerate her sister after death. We follow her investigation as Maude gets close to her sister’s killer - who, ironically, is out of luck himself and is trying to shill anything he can to pay his debts.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and had fun with it, despite (especially near the end) it feeling like Maude herself didn’t really have much to do with this “revenge” and it just kind of falling into her lap at the conclusion.
A tale of a sister’s quest for revenge after the unjustified death of her sister, this book has a lot going for it to make any mystery lover intrigued. We follow Maude Horton (of the title) as she investigates the truth of how her sister died - and its coverup. Maude’s sister disguised as a cabin boy to go on an Arctic exploration and rescue - but she never comes home and no one will tell Maude exactly what happened. Told through dual timelines and 3 POVs - Maude, her killer, and the journal of her sister on this fateful journey - we slowly piece together the truth of what really happened out there on the ice.
I kind of feel this story might have been more interesting from Maude’s sister’s main POV, and I felt a bit too much of the narrative was in the mind of her killer (and to be honest, Maude’s “revenge” is only near the end) but otherwise this was a fun book to read. I think anyone who likes Victorian era historical fiction, mysteries, and doomed Arctic exploration tales would enjoy this book. Despite knowing who the “villain” of this tale is right at the start - Maude still needs to figure out a way to prove his guilt and exonerate her sister after death. We follow her investigation as Maude gets close to her sister’s killer - who, ironically, is out of luck himself and is trying to shill anything he can to pay his debts.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and had fun with it, despite (especially near the end) it feeling like Maude herself didn’t really have much to do with this “revenge” and it just kind of falling into her lap at the conclusion.