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Book Reviews of In Pale Battalions

In Pale Battalions
In Pale Battalions
Author: Robert Goddard
ISBN-13: 9780671649456
ISBN-10: 0671649450
Publication Date: 9/1988
Rating:
  • Currently 4.7/5 Stars.
 3

4.7 stars, based on 3 ratings
Publisher: Holiday House
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

6 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

kathyk avatar reviewed In Pale Battalions on
Helpful Score: 1
I read this many years ago and still remember it. Very good read.
reviewed In Pale Battalions on + 625 more book reviews
In the best tradition of British storytelling, here murder, deceit, family honor, and intrigue are intricately woven into a compelling drama of decadent British aristocracy set during World War I. Leonora Galloway, who has for 50 years meticulously shunned discussion of her unpleasant childhood at the family ancestral home near Portsmouth, reveals her past to her daughter. In a controlled and measured way, Leonora recounts her tale, which includes discussion of Leonora's own questionable parentage, the details of an unsolved murder that occurred before she was born, her father's desertion from the army, and the ignominious end of a revered family name and a noble house. Enthralling to the final page.
reviewed In Pale Battalions on + 19 more book reviews
Shades of Daphne du Maurier...a tale of old misdeeds and present solutions, murders and sleuthing, remorse and retribution worthy of the past mistress herself.
"The Times"
London
reviewed In Pale Battalions on
This is a very good mystery book and numerous plot twists. The ending left me feeling quite sad though.
23dollars avatar reviewed In Pale Battalions on + 432 more book reviews
IN PALE BATTALIONS was the September 2013 pick in my neighborhood book club.

The mystery of what went on at Meongate Manor, and all the players who lived there pulled me along, but some parts were more compelling than others. The author used a very obvious (and at times laborious) technique of writing several stories within the story.

As the story progresses, there are several twists, some believable, but others? You guessed it! Not so believable. I think there was about one twist too many. Right up until the final pages.

I enjoyed and appreciated the scope of Leanora Galloway's backstory, but can't help but feel that none of the characters we learned about had much depth or substance. They all seemed rather hollow...so much so, that when the final page was turned, I was left wondering whether a single one of them had been worth the 350 pages....

Alas, if you enjoy mysteries written for mystery's sake, I can recommend this one. I give a C+.
reviewed In Pale Battalions on + 43 more book reviews
One of my favorite books by Robert Goddard. Very suspenseful!