Bertie and the Crime of Passion

Bertie (the future King Edward VII) has a princely appetite for tasty morsels of all kinds. With glorious food and glamorous women equally appealing, it's not surprising that he visits Paris every year, with a modest retinue of some 30 faithful servants.

The year 1889, however, marks his most eventful trip. First, he is introduced to the can-can - that deliciously vulgar new sensation in which he takes, of course, a purely scholarly interest. And second, a murder at a fashionable nightclub allows him to exercise his beloved sleuthing skills, poking the royal nose into showgirls' dressing rooms and all manner of backstage intrigues.

With Sarah Bernhardt and Toulouse-Lautrec acting as a dual Dr. Watson, His Highness cannot fail to find a solution to the crime - though no bets as to whether it's the right one.

Delightfully humorous . . . no one is more fun than Bertie - Associated Press Tongue-in-cheek satire and wry humor along with an intriguing, entertaining mystery - Booklist