It’s
been awhile since I wrote a book review, but I just loved The Daughter of Time. It
has a lot of things going for it: It was published the year I was born (1951),
it is history driven, and it is short (just like my attention span of late).
The
mystery begins with Detective Inspector Grant of Scotland Yard laid up in the
hospital with a broken leg. Supremely bored, a friend brings him museum
postcards with portraits of famous historical characters who have mysteries connected
with them (e.g., Louis XVII, the son of the guillotined Louis XVI - did he
survive his imprisonment in the Concierge during the French Revolution?). Inspector
Grant settles on the portrait of Richard III, the English king everyone loves
to hate—thanks in large part to Shakespeare.
