I do wish my friend had read Maskarade, though. There were so many times when I wanted to turn to her and say something like 'cheese merchant' or 'that chandelier looks like an accident waiting to happen' or similar, and she just wouldn't have gotten the joke.

Oooh, me too. Or that someone else in my family had read it, so that I could go with them. Perhaps I shall get someone to read it before it comes otu closer to us than Albany...