You Are Cordially Invited to a … Kidnapping
I had one last audiobook in Sarah E Burr’s Court of Mystery series. And, as I said recently, I haven’t been listening to audiobooks are quickly as I thought I would so far this year. But I finally got to listen to Throne of Threats.
This series is a little different. The main character is Jacqueline Xavier, the ruler of a Dutchy in the Realm of Virtues. It’s got medieval/very light fantasy vibes. More emphasis on the medieval over the light fantasy, especially in the last couple of stories I’ve read.
As this book opens, Jax is just days away from the event we’ve been waiting for almost as much as she has – her wedding to the youngest son of a ruler of a neighboring kingdom. With friends and family coming in a couple of days before the big event, and a couple of days before the rest of the guests, Jax is hoping for some relaxing before she has to play hostess and politics with her guests. But when Uma, her lady in waiting, goes to pick up the flowers a couple of days before, she is kidnapped. With only a cryptic clue to guide her, can Jax find Uma and rescue her? And will this latest case hurt her relationships with those she loves most?
This is the fifth story with these characters, and the second full length novel. It’s a testament to author Sarah E. Burr’s skill at creating characters how much we’ve fallen in love with them in such a relatively short page count. As I said at the top, we’ve been waiting for this wedding as much as Jax and Perry, her fiancé. And I really like how Perry has grown from where he was when we first met him. The other usual characters are here, as well as a few characters we met in earlier stories but haven’t seen in every story. I loved getting those updates on everyone.
Unfortunately, between those updates and some other politics
of the region, the book started out a little slowly. Some of that did speak to
potential motives once Uma was kidnapped. And once that happens, things do pick
up. I loved how things came together at the end.
I also appreciated how the author walked a fine line with the investigation. When evidence pointed to people close to Jax, they didn’t react well to her not trusting them. That’s realistic. Of course, their hurt might have been resolved a little quickly, but that’s fiction.
And yes, Jax does have good reasons for not being the best at trusting those closest to her. If you want to find out more, you really should read the other books in the series in order. Tin fact, there are some spoilery references to those earlier stories in this book.
As I said at the outset, I read this via audio. Melissa Green once again does a great job with the narration.
The series has ended with book fourteen. Since this is book five, I still have a ways to go with the characters, which makes me happy. While this may be the last audio book in the series I have, I’ve got the rest in ebook form, so I have no excuse not to dive in.
Throne of Threats feels like the closing of one chapter. But I’m happy I have many more chapters to go. If you want a different setting for a cozy mystery, you have to give this series a shot.
Enjoy the rest of the Court of Mysteries series.
I love these trips down memory lane while reading your Court of Mystery reviews, Mark! I am so interested in what you think of the later books. The tone of the series definitely shifts/grows/matures!
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