The Purity of Vengeance (Department Q #4)

I always find it difficult to read a story that was originally written in a different language. There are subtle nuances to a foreign language that often don't make the translation. Add in the problem of British slang, such as "copper," and this problem becomes even more difficult. The story itself is a fantastic story but when I'm trying to pronounce foreign place and personal names and then have the additional hurdle of trying to understand and translate British slang... I had to set the story aside numerous times for these reasons as it simply became too frustrating to try and translate English to English. Did that distract from the story? Just a little. I also found the story and the action to be somewhat choppy at first as it would focus on one character in the past, move to the present and focus on a different character, move to another character in the present, and then possible switch back to the past. These types of jumps took a bit of getting used to since the story never seemed to stay with one or two characters but focus on several storylines at once. Yes they intersect at the end, but it meant keeping track of multiple storylines, past and present. Did I enjoy THE PURITY OF VENGEANCE? Yes, actually I did but regrettably not as much as the previous Department Q novels.