Taking place in Milan during Leonardo's tenure as artist to the Duke, Stuckart manages make this historical period come alive for the reader. Dino, as narrator, is well positioned to give us the story as it unfolds, being observant and an outsider as she's playing the part of a boy, and because of her status as an apprentice, being unaware of some of the players, motives, and political maneuverings of the higher level members of the household that Leonardo has access to. So, we get to learn what is happening through Dino's eyes and her intuition and observations.

I found the historical setting fascinating. Dino is a woman ahead of her time. However, I do understand from other research that some women managed to play the part of men/boys without being detected for years, if at all, because the men just couldn't seem to conceive that any woman could deceive them. It seems inconceivable to us today to believe that anyone could be duped so easily but it was done, so I had no problems with the basic premise of Dino being a young male apprentice.

Since, in this story, she's asked to pretend to be a girl, we get her reactions to being back in dresses and having all the limitations of her gender back again. It's an interesting look into the mind and heart of this series main character.

The mystery itself was satisfying but, for me, secondary to the setting and characters. I enjoyed the story and would seek out another book in the series. However, in fairness I have to admit that I'm a bit of a fan of Leonardo daVinci so I was semi-hooked by the concept right from the start.