Murder in the Chateau: An Eleanor Roosevelt Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Murder in the Chateau:A trite mystery
Review: I found this book to be mildly entertaining and quick-paced, yet definitely not A material. The book didn't really give me a sense of what WWII was like, maybe because it took place in a remote chateau. It also failed to fully describe the character's thoughts and motivations. Because the book is based on non-fictional characters, it was hard for me to differentiate between fact and fiction. This book required more knowledge of the WWII era, than the information it provided on the subject. I did not get a sense of the time, and furthermore, felt that if I did not know about WWII, I wouldn't have understood the book. To understand some phrases in this book, the reader must be able to understand French and German. Because I do take French, it was easy for me to translate those phrases. However, I do not speak German, and there were many important phrases in the book in which the author gave no translation. Overall, I would not recommend this book. I would give this book a C to C-, because even though it was a fast-paced book, it was not a page-turning story, and the realistic aspect was lacking. For example, if this meeting was so secretive and dangerous, why would entertainers of the time be invited to the chateau? THe dailogue of this book was also very trite. For example, when Mrs. Roosevelt found a dead body on the ground she said, "Who killed him?". This was very unrealistic. If you have any comments, please write back.