A quick and fun murder mystery romp with the Musketeers. The author does a good job of setting up how these stories came to light via her hands, she also has a good grasp on the character voices. We get some nice back story on the more minor characters in the original tales as well.

This story interweaves into the very beginning of when D'Artagnan arrives in Paris and meets the Musketeers - Porthos, Athos, and Aramis. We get a good glimpse into the Royal palace and at the Cardinal's households and lifestyles too.

Sending this onto Cheesy so she can read it. ( )

Athos, Porthos, Aramia, and D’Artagnan literatures' enduring friend quartet. They turn the detectives to investigate a corpse of young woman clad in musketeer's outfit.

One hell of a read for historical fiction lovers like me. The Paris and the French countryside of Dumas time is very meticulously recreated. The plot is mind blowing. Can't ask for a better book on a weekend! Thoroughly enjoyable. ( )

I was really looking forward to some swashbuckling fun and good repartée, so when I heard of these books I put the first four on my reading list. After reading the first, I removed the others.The murder mystery isn't as mysterious as all that, and the delay in solving it relies heavily on D'Artagnan not recognizing someone he'd encountered before. As he is supposed to be very observant and cunning, that doesn't work very well.I suppose it's time for a re-read of Brust's The Phoenix Guards and Five Hundred Years After. I know I won't be disappointed there! ( )

Interesting, and mostly well-written, but not really good. It's done very well in the style of the original - it sounds right. And it makes me want to read it (The Three Musketeers) again. Actually, my reaction to this is very much like my reaction to The Three Musketeers - good but it doesn't catch me. Too much time spent delving into the depths of various brains, for one - the 'terrible' secrets held by all three musketeers. And a minor point - there are quite a few not-quite-the-right-word choices throughout the book - places where that's not what she meant but frequently I can't figure out what she did mean. Distracted me from the story every time. It's interesting that this story is tucked in early in D'Artagan's friendship with the three - perhaps it's meant to explain why he became so close with them so quickly. The problem, of course, is that they can't change - there can be no major effect on their lives within the story because Dumas already wrote it. I don't know. It's better than the Captain Nemo book (as additions to an established storyline go), but not something that really interests me. I may read others in the series if I come across them, but I won't be hunting them out. ( )

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's a fun idea - Dumas' Musketeers investigating a murder. It's told in turns from the point of view of each. And it's interesting enough that I've kept reading.

However, there's one big problem. It is so very poorly edited that it's extremely distracting. Maybe this wouldn't bother most, but some of the errors just jumped out at me. Did no one read this book before it was published? In some long sentences the author seemed to have forgotten where she was going, and though you can figure out what's meant, it's just said wrong. Later, part of a conversation was attributed to the wrong person. The characters apparently forgot whose house they were in in one scene. There are repetitive bits ("that army-man quality of army men of being able to sleep anywhere") and wrong words (mention is made of Athos and Porthos' ability to "access" character). I wouldn't nit-pick like this if there weren't so very many of these little problems.

But beyond these problems, I've enjoyed the story, though perhaps it's more that it's a lot of fun seeing more of these characters that I've loved. I'll certainly finish the book, and I'll give the second one a chance, though I really hope it doesn't show a similar lack of proofreading. ( )