The book started very slowly for me. A few times I considered not finishing it. But it did to pick up interest as it wnet a long and I'm glad I finished it. There is a sequel coming which I'm not sure I will read. The characters, in a an historical fiction, just seemed very improbable to me. The history seemed very sound but the characters and what happened to them in this book seemed ridiculous at times. ( )

This is the first in a ten-book series of the Countess Beatrice von Falklenburg's adventures which will take her from 1904 to 1914 when World War I breaks out and changes the world she knows forever. The Countess of Prague gives readers an excellent flavor of the times, but it got off to a shaky start-- mainly due to Trixie herself.

I had to remind myself several times that this book relates the beginning of Trixie's life as a spy/detective because her upper-class snobbery and some of her hare-brained stunts exasperated me greatly. (The stunts mainly because they showed a lack of common sense, but then--as I kept reminding myself-- she's led a sheltered life.)

I also found the plot to be overly convoluted, to the point where I began to lose interest, but the redeeming features saved the day. What redeeming features? The humor, for one, made me smile. The second redeeming feature was the secondary cast, in particular her servants, Müller and Sabine. This is where actually working with those two and seeing them as human beings rather than pieces of furniture makes Trixie begin to change for the better. The servants' willingness to work with her on her clandestine mission shows more than just employee obedience, too.

Once the countess began to grow into her chosen role of spy and detective, the reading became much more enjoyable, and I do look forward to her next adventure. ( )

The Countess of Prague is the first in a ten book historical mystery series by Stephen Weeks featuring of all things, a countess, from Prague. In this first adventure, Trixie, our intrepid Countess, is asked to help her uncle Berty when his former batman is found dead and also not-dead at a nursing home. This is important because Berty is one of two remaining eligible members of a long ago investment tontine. Unlike most tontines that pay off after only one member remains alive, this eligibility in this Tontine is based on the survival of people nominated by each shareholder. It benefits Uncle Berty and Trixie if that old batman Alois remains alive.

However, in the course of investigating that small mystery, Trixie stumbles on a far more serious and deadly puzzle that has her disguising herself as a man, hopping a train to follow the conspirators, suspected of murder, and even sailing to England to foil an international plot.

The Countess of Prague was delightfully complicated, yet fair. We knew the essential clues and when they began to fall into place, the revelations came one after the other…and built naturally and logically. Trixie never read something and thought it was very interesting and filed it away without us knowing what it was. This is important in a series, in my opinion. I could never love Nero Wolfe because of those undisclosed vital clues.

I like the way Trixie refines her methods of detection, learning as she goes along, daring new things. She is not fearless, and she is a lady of fashion, but she will much about if necessary. It was altogether a delightfully complex romp.

Trixie is a bit of an unlikely heroine, but any woman of independence action is unlikely in historical mysteries. I do like Weeks efforts to show her shifting her worldview through exposure to the waifs she has hired as her irregulars, though she doesn’t use the term. She learns secrets about her family that also broaden her worldview, though I suspect she’s unaware of similar secrets closer to home…perhaps in book two, five, six, or ten. I look forward to them eagerly.

The Countess of Prague will be released September 5th. I received an advance e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

The Countess of Prague at Poisoned Pen Press
Stephen Weeks at Poisoned Pen Press.

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/08/21/9781464208447/ ( )