A pretty standard Sloan and Crosby - mildly interesting mystery (but a little too similar to Past Tense, the last one I read (yesterday)), and all the usual formulaic hits. Crosby is described as the youngest member of the force - which makes me wonder - the series has being going on for years, they haven't hired anyone else? And how does Crosby stay on, if everyone thinks he's so awful? Honestly. As usual, reading two in a row brings out the solid cardboard of the formula (cute literary quotes and references notwithstanding). The actual mystery had fewer interesting characters than usual, too - usually I can enjoy the one-time characters even if the standard cast are dull, but most of the people here are rather nasty. Nor did I figure out the villain ahead of time - my reaction to the arrest was sort of "Oh, ok, that's the one? If you say so." And the "treasure" was obscure and didn't actually exist, so there was a lot of damage and no triumph, just words. No, even for a Sloan and Crosby this was weak. The most enjoyable part was that the chapter headings are a poem - makes me want to go read the poem itself, without the silly book intervening. And...you know, that sounds familiar. I may have read this before, and completely forgotten it. ( )

I suspect it's as good as the others by this author, but I listened to the others on audio, and really, they're best that way.

Great fun. Reminds me of Sarah Caudwell: joie de vivre and a love of words and literature. ( )