Death of a Musketeer

By Sarah D’Almeida

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With an “All for one, murder for all,” Alexandre Dumas’ famous literary characters turn sleuth in this debut of a new series. No sooner does Henri D’Artagnan arrive in 1625 Paris and make the acquaintance of Aramis, Porthos, and Athos then he is embroiled in a plot to discredit the hapless French queen, Anne of Austria. Discovering the brutally murdered body of a woman strongly resembling the queen but dressed in a musketeer’s uniform, it falls to the King’s Musketeers to unravel the case. As their investigation deepens and the body count grows, the musketeers realize the crime is part of a dark conspiracy of political intrigue, convent-bred secrets, infidelity and murder that includes a connection to one of their own. D’Almeida manages to set the story within the known framework of the well-known classic while introducing new characters, and cleverly including familiar ones like the villainous Rochefort and Cardinal Richelieu. Plenty of swordplay, verbal sparring, and general mayhem keep the story moving briskly, and make for an appealing mix of history, adventure and mystery that stands on its own merit.