This is the third book in a trilogy but it is not necessary to have read the first two and I have no plans of doing so. While the first half was genuinely amusing, it started to go downhill with the virulent misogyny directed at Xanthippe and early feminism in Chapters 4-5. I know this was written in the 1890s, but the author avatar protagonist literally makes excuses for Henry VIII murdering his wives while at the same time opposing women's political emancipation. Yeah, I just can't. The story recovers somewhat but then we're subjected to literal Sherlock Holmes fan fiction and a tedious account of a game of golf and it just . . . ends.