Montmorency and the Assassins
by Eleanor Updale
Published by Orchard Books
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Reviewed by Kaitlin Burkard
Montmorency and his old friend and partner George Fox-Selwyn set out to Italy to join Selwyn's family on a European tour, all the while keeping a lookout for a few stolen artifacts from a naturalist's private collection.
They expected a pleasant family vacation. But when one member of Selwyn's family gets them involved in an international plot to murder some of Europe's most distinguished aristocracy, they end up dealing with a lot more then they bargained for....
And this time, it's their closest friends and family members whose lives are on the line.
Montmorency and the Assassins left this reviewer with mixed feelings. The book has an interesting cast of characters that are spread out all over Europe. This, unfortunately, is one of Assassins' greatest weaknesses. It constantly jumps back and forth from one character's perspective to another, sometimes within the same paragraph. Because of this, it is difficult to relate to the characters. Readers never get to spend a substantial amount of time with any of them. The style of the writing only aggravates this problem. It often feels as though the author is merely narrating events, not weaving a story together.
The story isn't exactly boring, but it's not thrilling, either. The ending is terrible. It comes abruptly and can only be described as ghastly. Readers who have enjoyed the previous books and care deeply for the characters might want to avoid Assassins simply because of the ending, which all but undoes everything the characters have achieved during the course of the novel.
The book's one strong point is its interesting time-period details. The settings and characters of Assassins were meticulously researched. London, Italy, and America are real enough to touch. However, this fact does not undo the other problems with the novel.
Assassins is not a horrible book. It's just that there's no reason to read it. At the end of the day, Assassins manages merely to be stunningly average. This reviewer is certain there are much better books out there in the same genre. Skip this one.
Armchair Interviews says: If you like time-period details, this book might be for you.