Book Review

Maid for the Musketeer by Anna Klein

Maid for the Musketeer would have gotten a higher grade from me if it hadn’t taken a sharp tonal turn at the last minute. For the most part, I enjoyed this feminist romance between childhood friends who are forced by Cardinal Richelieu to become spies in France in the mid-1600s. The introduction warns us that the book, like The Three Musketeers by Dumas, is “not historical fiction, it’s more accurately described as historical fanfiction.” With this in mind, we follow the adventures of Gregoire, a musketeer with a family secret, and Charlotte, who becomes a maid to Lady Abigail, daughter of the Baron of Camoys. Both Gregoire and Charlotte are placed in their respective positions by Richelieu, who requires them to spy and report back to him.

Charlotte and Gregoire grew up on the same estate (they are not related). They were close friends and had secret crushes on each other, but were parted when Gregoire’s family was arrested for plotting against the King. Gregoire always believed they were framed and is desperate to protect his sister, who is penniless, and restore the family name. After the fall of the family, Charlotte married but he “was not a good man” anddied, leaving her penniless as well. By working for Richelieu they have a chance to reach their various goals of safety and security, and they also have a chance to rekindle their love, which of course happens. But can it survive the machinations of court and Charlotte’s secret? WELL?

This is a solid romance with an abundance of intrigue and spying and swashbuckling. Charlotte comes across as a much more dynamic, sympathetic, and interesting character than Gregoire, who struggles to accept her as a partner rather than someone to protect. To Charlotte’s surprise, she LOVES being a spy (although she hates lying to Lady Abigail, who is the sweetest woman on Earth). Charlotte is mentored by a woman of the evening and by nuns with some very specific and surprising skill sets:

“Very well,” Charlotte said to herself. “Accomplished today: given a mission to break into a Paris merchant’s office by a cardinal, who is also planning arson. Exchanged pleasantries; was mildly threatened. Next, pick up lockpicks from some nuns. Tonight, robbery.”

Y’all know I am 100% here for nuns with lockpicks and for comments like this one, from Richelieu when Gregoire complains that Charlotte thinks she could have a career as a spy:

She could, if she wanted it. Why, did you want her doing needlework forever, Or, did you think she would simply trail after you to England, become your wife, keep your house, mend your shirts, and never use that brilliant brain of hers again? Ahhh, you did, didn’t you? Well, I assume she disabused you of that notion with her acid wit, and perhaps that’s why you are in such a foul temper. When will you learn that she’s not for you to coddle and keep?

Alas, while Charlotte just keeps levelling up in terms of competence and confidence, Gregoire is always stuck in a place of childhood trauma and he never fully recovers. Based on his reluctance to let Charlotte experience her full potential, and his vindictiveness when he…

Mild plot spoilers ahoy!

…wrongly thinks that Charlotte framed his parents…

I do not have vast amounts of optimism for this couple. His vindictiveness is another example of the tonal turn – I simply did not believe that Gregoire would be so awful to Charlotte under any circumstances, and once he was I never forgave him. On top of that, I felt that Charlotte had so much more believable character development than Gregoire that she outgrew him. Even at his best, Gregoire is always judgemental, old-fashioned, and frankly a bit of a whiner, whereas Charlotte refuses to wallow and instead invests her energy into forward movement.

The other problem I had was that the story suddenly took a sharp turn by:

Mild plot spoilers ahoy!

brutally and bloodily killing off Lady Abigail.

The brutality of this event is really shocking and not at all in keeping the rest of the book, which is fairly lighthearted. It’s as though a scene from The Silence of the Lambs was suddenly dropped into the middle of Pirates of the Caribbean. 

Ultimately, I liked the setting and the character of Charlotte so much that I would happily read a sequel. However, it’s Charlotte’s arc and the setting and action that enthralled me, not the romance. I would recommend this for fans of swashbucklers.

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Maid for the Musketeer by Anna Klein

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  1. Lisa F says:

    Tonal shifts are the worst, especially when you’re enjoying the story as it bounds along.

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