Rereading this for the first time in a while, and as usual with Pratchett, seeing new layers and levels every time. This is I think the fourth or fifth book in the "City Watch" themed Discworld books that start with "Guards, Guards", so I would definitely recommend reading some of the earlier ones first before coming to this one. But once you do, you'll enjoy it.

Vimes is always one of my favourite characters, and in this book he's settling comfortably into marriage with Sibyl although not so comfortably into the fancy title of Duke that came with her. So it's an understatement to say he's less than happy to be send to represent the interests of Ankh-Morpork in the remote region of Uberwald, where a tense three-way power struggle between the dwarves, vampires, and werewolves is being strained to an extreme by the coronation of a new dwarf King. Turns out the new king was chosen not because he was anybody's first choice, but rather because he was everyone's second choice, and he has rather alarmingly modern views for a dwarf. Which seems like a great opportunity for Ankh-Morpork to establish good terms and trading treaties. As long a Duke Vimes can suvive the ambush, overzealous Uberwald guards, werewolf plotting, vampire meddling, and all the rest of the minor obstacles that stand between Vimes and the coronation. Not to mention the theft of the traditional Stone of Scone, without which the coronation can't even take place...

This is a more plot-centred book than some, and less of a laugh on every page, although there are plenty of funny moments. It also contains more of Cheery, the first dwarf to decide to actually dress as a female dwarf, and strongly representative of real world trans representation struggles. And, of course, reading it as I am now in the midst of the police brutality riots in the US, all of Vimes' thoughts on the role of police and policing in general are extremely relevant and thought-provoking. Layers on layers, and not just of Fifth Elephant fat deposits.