and then despite obvious warning signs completely failed to realize how much of a number the recurring thematic death-metaphors were going to do on my head. There's some static on my journal from around that time. I still think it's one of the more complexly plotted novels of the series, even leaving aside my personal stake in Hannibal.

It is excellently plotted, and completely surprised me too. On rereads though, you can catch slight allusions to Hannibal conceiving of himself as dead in previous books as well, which is just an amazing feat of characterization to be stretched out over multiple years of writing. I do constantly wonder how far ahead Hambly plots her books, because she lays the groundwork for future developments so very, very well; you can partly do that as you go along, but hers is so exceptional that I can almost never catch the seams.

And yeah, Jesus it's emotionally compelling. I mean, you'd think fake-suicide would be emotionally and dramatically powerful enough on its own, but it somehow becomes ever more so by Hannibal's absolute commitment to it.