“I wanted to punish you before. I don’t anymore. Now, come and sit here so I can poke you with these needles.”
Marion McCall
The great hall in Fleet Tower is quite the lively place (hmm…maybe not the right wording). The McCalls are preparing for a wedding, and if that means unexpected arrivals, murder, mayhem, and chaos, all the better. A slow start snowballs into a laugh-out-loud comedy that was a joy to read.
The McCall clan is known for its member’s eccentricity, and they do not disappoint. Uncle William and the aunts are a blend of sorrow as they cope with his loss of touch with reality and humor as they find and cause more trouble than most would expect. Throw in an outlaw cousin with a grudge; it’s a full house. Marion and Iain’s attempts to keep a lid on the situation ends with hilarious results. There were multiple times that I scared the cat off my lap as I laughed at the absurd antics.
The biggest issue that I had was with Iain. His dismissive attitude towards what Marion said or was concerned about frustrated me. His single-minded focus on getting under her skirts didn’t help matters either. This problem lasted a fair portion of the book and cropped back up to annoy me again. I don’t know if this is something that is carried over from Arsenic and Old Lace, but I’ve come to expect better from May McGoldrick’s heroes. Fortunately, the book shifted focus to the McCall clan, who more than made up for him.
The tension between the English and Scottish, especially in the sixteenth-century, works wonderfully as a backdrop for rebranding Arsenic and Old Lace. This book is well worth looking into if you’re looking for a humorous historical read.
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