What do readers think of A Murder at Rosamund's Gate by Susanna Calkins? Write your own review.

For a first novel, the book was well researched; however, the plot was slow and I had to push myself to read from beginning to end. The characters were not developed enough to my liking. The author has potential and the way she ended the book, it seems there will be more to come regarding Lucy. Will not be recommending this book to others but will want to read her next book to compare them.

This book, although entertaining, didn't really show
me anything new or exciting. The plot was predictable, the characters you've met many times before, and the ending was no surprise. I would not recommend it to my book club.

I found this book tedious and almost decided to put it aside but the author's knowledge of setting was very instructive telling all the unusual and unsanitary conditions of the 17th century, upper class household customs and conditions leading to the days of the plague so I stuck with it. My main problem was with slow plot development and characters who did not create interest. There was plenty of opportunity for tension but, somehow, it never developed for me. I would not recommend it to my reading groups but feel the author's potential is good. A tighter and faster moving plot would have helped.

I usually enjoy historical mysteries and was looking forward to this novel as it takes place during a time period I had not read about before. The history behind the plot was interesting but I found the characters to not be very well-developed, and the mystery itself as well as the "romance" to be rather trite.
Over all this just an OK read - I've read worse, but also better. The author has potential and perhaps the next book will be better.

As the leader of a discussion group that enjoys historical mysteries, I had high hopes for this new author. An interesting premise and lots of historical details, though, were marred by uneven writing. The flow of the story was slowed by an overabundance of parenthetical phrases, awkward transitions between scenes, and a lack of character development. I stopped too often to remark on imprecise word choices to be able to enjoy the story.

17-18th century England is one of my favorite eras in history, so I enjoy reading books from that time period from many different genres (mystery, fiction, biography, etc.). Needless to say, I was very excited to get a chance to review this mystery. My excitement was short lived, however, as the first part of this novel was very slow. The character development seemed deliberate, like the author was following a formula, instead of allowing development in their own time within the story.

The mystery was predictable and contrite. When I got to the end of this novel, I walked away feeling like a chore had been accomplished rather than a fantasy fulfilled.