After reading A Crane Among Wolves, I wanted more June Hur.
One of the reasons I started reading her books in the first place was that I wanted historical fiction and romance outside the usual Regency and Victorian settings. I have read enough about drawing rooms, dukes and English society for a while. Give me somewhere else.
Joseon Korea works particularly well for me because I have watched so many Korean historical dramas that I already have the whole visual world sitting inside my head.
And The Red Palace gave me plenty to work with.
Hyeon is a young palace nurse whose mentor becomes a suspect after four women are murdered in a single night. She begins investigating with Eojin, a young police inspector, and before long their investigation starts getting dangerously close to the royal family.
The palace-nurse setting immediately gave me Dae Jang Geum vibes.
The stories aren’t the same, obviously, but there was something very familiar about following a woman working within the palace, surrounded by court officials, strict hierarchies, medicine, rules and powerful people who could ruin your life without much effort.
I could see everything.
The palace corridors. The courtyards. The clothes. The officials. The nurses moving around the palace.
At times it felt less like reading a book and more like watching another Joseon-era drama in my head.
And then there was Eojin.
I really liked Eojin.
He and Hyeon work together on the investigation, so they have perfectly legitimate reasons to keep meeting, but gradually their relationship becomes something more. I liked the quiet courtship of it – those little meetings and gestures where it becomes increasingly obvious that this isn’t purely about solving murders anymore.
The romance doesn’t overwhelm the mystery either, which is probably why it worked so well for me. I got the investigation and palace intrigue I wanted, but I also got enough romantic development to become invested in Hyeon and Eojin as a couple.
And importantly, it actually goes somewhere.
They choose each other, and the ending gave me the romantic payoff I wanted.
Thank you. 😂
I think that may be why The Red Palace left me more satisfied than A Crane Among Wolves. I enjoyed that book too, but this one felt more complete to me.
The murder mystery kept things moving, the Joseon palace setting was exactly my kind of thing, Hyeon was easy to root for, and Eojin was the sort of romantic hero I actually enjoy.
Historical murder mystery.
Joseon palace intrigue.
A competent inspector.
Slow-burn courtship.
And an ending that didn’t leave me asking, “That’s it?”
Apparently that is how you get five stars from me.
5/5
