My wife reads aloud to me by the fire. We have enjoyed other Jill Churchill books, so we were looking forward to this one. My Goodness what a mess! The plot was hap-hazard and undeveloped. The characters, humor and mystery were all non-existent. The pages were full of careless, unedited typographical errors, misspelling, and gramatical disasters. Words were left out of sentences and sentences trailed off without an ending. The conclusion of the book was a relief. What a shame! Maybe Jill Churchill had a deadline she could not meet. Maybe her publisher did not print it correctly. Maybe it was just a mess.