This is for those people who like solving mysteries. Who was Roberts Menzies really? American biographer Jason Glass is employed by descendants of a Scottish family to write of their ancestor Roberts Menzies. As a young doctor he traveled to South Africa and played an infamous role in the Siege of Ladysmith, at the beginning of the Second Boer War. The problem is that the family wants a pretty picture of their ancestor, so getting at the real facts is difficult. Sure, there is a diary, but that has been played with, parts rewritten, parts ripped out. So does Glass write the truth or does he give them what they want, and what is the real truth? There are murders and poisonings and suicides and passion.

Yes there is history about the Siege of Ladysmith woven into the story, but it is the fictional Scottish clan that is the central focus of the book. Who did what to whom? That is what you have to care about to enjoy this book. For me it was just too much of a bother for people who really did not exist.

Since the entire book is the search for the truth about what happened and a look at how the different characters reacted to the events, large portions are told to the reader after the fact. That is to say the reader is told rather than shown. There are family charts and maps and lists to help summarize what has been discovered...so the reader doesn't get lost.

On a philosophical level the book shows that: "Few of us want to know the truth - it is too terrible to live with. It takes more courage than most of us have." (page 204) And "it was the response one made to life that counted, not the foolish plan we all think we have for life. Circumstances are what they are; they cannot be changed." (page 230)

Pick up this book if you like mystery stories. You may like it a lot more than I did. ( )