Review: Hell to Pay

Hell to Pay by Rosalind James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This follows on from Hell Bent but can totally be read as a standalone.

Marguerite and her granddaughter Alix, together with Alix's boyfriend Sebastian and Sebastian's nephew have travelled from the US to Germany. Marguerite is actually the daughter of the former King of Saxony who died during the bombing of Dresden in 1945 during WW2. Marguerite escaped Dresden as a sixteen year old with most of her mother's emerald parure (basically just a set of jewels meant to be worn together eg tiara, necklace, ring, bracelet etc) sewn into the sleeves of an old coat. However, she was forced to leave the tiara behind, hidden in a cellar, because it was too bulky to conceal. Now, over 90 years old, she wants to try to retrieve the tiara from the newly restored Dresden Castle because the parure has been passed down from mother to daughter for generations.

Told partially in present day and partially through Marguerite recounting the story to her family, and later a history vlogger, together with letters from Marguerite's late husband Joe to his father in the USA, and Marguerite's own journal we see how Marguerite led a relatively charmed life, even during WW2, with the family being supplied with food by a loyal farmer from outside Dresden, but her father's refusal to fly the Swastika or support the Nazis has not gone unnoticed and her comfortable way of life is drawing to a close.

I must confess I was a tad sceptical about how this would work, after all we already know that Marguerite survived, married Joe and had a daughter and granddaughter - where's the suspense? I needn't have worried (or doubted Rosalind James), this was a cracking story with all the drama and suspense I could possibly ask for. I can't wait for the next one.

I received an ARC from the author.

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