I got suckered into the series by the cover art, but unfortunately the inside failed to impress me as much. The plot was predictable, which has it's pros and cons as it's always enjoyable to figure things out alongside the main character. However, this was a little too predictable for me. It was more like reading a movie plot that's been novelized. You can see the ending twists coming from near the start of the book. As far as historical accuracy goes, the author seems to know his stuff. I'm no real history buff, mind you, but nothing jumped out at me as being anachronistic or odd.

John Madden as a main character wasn't really someone I could relate to. He seemed to be the kind of main character where you can picture him visually, which is great, but he doesn't seem to have much of a personality to get attached to. He's devoted to his work and he falls in love with a woman over the course of the book, but I just couldn't fall in love with him. That's not to say that he's a bad character. Not at all. I just wished there were more substance to him. I had a much easier time getting attached to his sidekick, Billy Styles, who features as the main perspective in several chapters.

I enjoyed the side characters well enough. Most were easily distinguishable, though I sometimes found myself forgetting who was who when it came to the officers in the police force.

All in all, this is really a murder mystery meant for a war buff. It wasn't really my cup of tea, but I'm sure history buffs would really sink their teeth into it.