If you loved the four previous books you're not going to not read this one, but....

The two novellas in this volume are very different. The first - "The Jack of Spades" - is a little too similar to book 4 (The Death of Achilles); an enjoyable enough romp, but nothing too exciting.

The second is different indeed. A take on the Jack the Ripper story, "The Decorator" is a poorly plotted gorefest, with little to redeem it. I've read that Akunin is trying to write in as many different sub genres as he can; in this one he failed.

Still, I've happily ordered book 6, so it can't have been that bad.