This is the third in the Red Queen series, the Red Queen is a program that sought out certain people then trained them into becoming a super detective with advanced abilities to analyze crime scenes and determine who did the crime. Antonia is the Red Queen in the Spain area, she becomes aware of a series of murders of other Red Queens in other areas of Europe, she is soon contacted by the man behind them, Mr White, someone who has been tracking Antonia for many years. He gives her a seemingly impossible task, to find out who really murdered someone, and she only has 3 hours to do so. No sooner has she done that, then he gives another similar task, and when she comes close to solving that, one more, which ends up being at her own house. There is a lot of pursuing leads, and she uses her Mentor to help her, though Mr White, is a ruthless man, and he infiltrates their base of operations, and well you best read to find out. Antonia of course gets very upset and well I can't say much without spoiling it, let me just say what she did was very amazing. I would highly recommend this and the other in the series. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Minotaur Books for the ARC.

Exciting conclusion to this part of the Antonia Scott story. It picked up exactly at the end of the last and kept the tension on all the way through. Would definitely not be a pick up and read if you have not read both the first books. I also think if it’s been a while since you read the first books, a refresher might be needed. The whole trilogy is dense with characters and mythology that took me a bit to resync to but once I did, I was captivated.

“White King” is the translation of Juan Gómez-Jurado’s 2020 internationally best selling “Rey Blanco,” the final part of the “Red Queen/Reina Roja” trilogy. This is the final in a series featuring Antonia Scott (Spanish mom/ British dad), an incredibly talented forensic criminologist who needed to be coaxed out of a self-imposed retirement in the first book by Inspector Jon Gutiérrez, who is her bodyguard/companion/“shield bearer.” She can easily be described as a less Goth Lisbeth Salander, although it’s mainly Antonia’s mind, not any computer skills, that she can weaponize.

I would definitely recommend that you read the first two installments before diving into “White King.” The multinational agency that Antonia and Jon work for has no name, but it operates alongside law enforcement (with incredible resources) to solve unusual cases. Each participating nation has a chosen “Red Queen” (like the “off with your head” Red Queen of “Alice in Wonderland” - the monarch who insists you have to run in order to stay in place). Antonia, Spain’s Red Queen, was given unique training and then she guides the investigations with her special skills. Her mind works at ultra speed and she had taken red and blue pills (ala The Matrix) to often keep from crashing. In the last book, she had decided to wean herself from the pills and resolve the unfinished business that complicated her life — the near murder of her husband, Marcos, that put him in a coma and also estranged her from their son Jorge.

As the story begins, Antonia finally decides to end her husband’s life support and is grieving (in her own detached way) when Jon is kidnapped. Other Red Queens and international project members are under attack; a bomb in Germany kills five. The Dutch shield bearer killed his Queen. The French Queen and her shield bearer have disappeared.

During all the books, Antonia has sensed an immensely evil, but unprovable, mastermind shadowing her. He finally reveals himself as Mr. White, who will save Jon if she can “solve three crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice.” Jon is released, but has a bomb implanted in his neck. Solutions to the crimes involve tight deadlines (like solving a supposedly closed case and finding the real murderer in six hours).

There's a good reason that Juan Gómez-Jurado has 10 million international readers. This series is one of most loved thriller trilogies in the world and unfortunately it took too long to have it translated into English. The author has already completed another trilogy (part of the Red Queen universe), that I desperately want translated as soon as possible. The action is non-stop. This is truly a world class thriller. 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES The Other Woman has green eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): MAYBE I question if hydrangea and wisteria bloom at the same time in Spain (in the US, wisteria is early spring and hydrangeas are late summer.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy!