Rarely have I found a book utterly distasteful, but this one is the exception. I've read all of Cornwell's novels and have generally enjoyed them--up to this one. I was looking forward to a good read, and all I got was this.Enough mewling about the niece and the dead lover! Get back to basics, Ms. Cornwell. And lay off all the meaningless details. If a good editor had taken about 100-150 pages of padding out of this, it might have been okay, although the plot is just a wee bit far-fetched. Maybe more than a wee bit.