Queen of Diamonds | Patricia Loofbourrow

Tango with Text
May 9, 2017
2 min read

This is the second in the Red Dog Conspiracy series, a steampunk mystery. The four families rule the city of Bridges and if you are not a recognised family member, you live in the slums known as the Pot. Jacqueline Spadros was born in the Pot but was kidnapped as a child, raised in the Spadros household and then married to the heir of the Spadros family. Although recovering from her last ordeal in the Jacq of Spades, Jacqui cannot let the kidnapping go – she needs to find evidence to bring to the families so that justice can be served.

This is a very complicated world, with much political intrigue between the families. It is steeped in history, so much so that a wrong word said at a dinner party can cause disaster. Although Jacqui has spent much of her life as part of the Spadros household, she is unaware of much of the history of the families, which causes some problems for her and her husband Nick. However, although complicated, I managed to keep up with the political intrigue in this story which is unrivalled in any story I have read so far. Jacqui is an interesting character, trying to combine her life in the Pot with her life in the Bridges – she reflects a society where those with power and money are ignorant and dismissive of the poor. Her character and values are being further developed in this installment. I do worry about her husband though – will he be able to keep the balance in values, or not? We shall have to see.

The Queen of Diamonds is an interesting character, but with so much intrigue going on, she is not as well-developed as she could have been. Still, I loved the mystery she brought to the book while Jacqui is trying to solve her on-going mysteries.

I would have liked to have seen more on the mechanical functioning of the city although I believe this has been set up for future inclusion as there is some movement on this front in this book.

I was given an audio copy of the book for review. Machelle Williams is not one of my favourite narrators. I find her voice monotonous and croaky and this story would have done better with a different narrator.

This is definitely a story for those who enjoy the intrigue and machinations of people with power – this one has it in spades!

Some extra reading for you from the author if you have enjoyed the books:

The Cast of Characters

The Merca Federation

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