spoken for

Rating: 9

This was pretty darn good, as well as an easy read.

It’s a murder mystery that takes place in 1664 New Amsterdam (New York) and is filled with several colorful characters. Our main character Tonnemann, is the sheriff of the city, and was, apparently, a real guy. Other names appear that I recognize (my 10th-great grandfather was born in 1640′s New Amsterdam) and many turn out to be real individuals. Maybe some of the others are, too, I’m not sure, though I’d say likely not, since it is a novel. The book kept my attention through the end, the only thing I was really disappointed in was the last section where all the loose ends are tied together. By that point, I’d pretty much figured it all out, but the dialogue between the characters seemed forced and a little bit cheesy and out of character for them when compared to the rest of the book. Despite that, I really liked this historical fiction.