by Sharon Kay Penman
Well, that took me long enough to read! I kept getting distracted from the book to read other things, in part because for me the story just wasn't holding together well. I understand that the book was showing just how random an investigation can be, with many loose ends and unanswered questions. But...
Series: Justin de Quincy #1 This mediaeval mystery got off to a slow start for me. Justin de Quincy is tasked by the Queen to find the murderer of a goldsmith who had been carrying a letter for her. I spent most of the book thinking it was entertaining but not great, so when some of the character...
I didn't think the mystery in this book was anything overly impressive. The characters, both the protagonist and secondary, were wonderful.
I dithered between a three and four star rating with this. Sharon Kay Penman is one of my favorite writers of historical fiction, up there with the likes of Mary Renault, Robert Graves, Dorothy Dunnett. Penman's The Sunne in Splendour and Here Be Dragons, set in Plantagenet times in England and Wale...
I dithered between a three and four star rating with this. Sharon Kay Penman is one of my favorite writers of historical fiction, up there with the likes of Mary Renault, Robert Graves, Dorothy Dunnett. Penman's The Sunne in Splendour and Here Be Dragons, set in Plantagenet times in England and Wale...
I was very pleasantly surprised by how good this novel turned out to be on the second go-round. Set in England during the reign of Richard I (1189-1199), a landless knight, Justin de Quincy finds himself thrust into courtly politics when he meets a dying man on the road to London. Ordered to find th...
I have the oddest feeling I've read this, but as I can't recall a thing about it feel it might be worth a re-read before going on to the rest of the series.
Read this one before, but it's worth a revisit. Young Justin de Quincy is down on his luck and about to head to London to find employment when he rides to the rescue in a roadside ambush. The dying man is carrying a letter for Queen Eleanor and Justin makes good a rash promise to deliver the letter....
A light, entertaining read with good characters and a believable setting full of details about daily life in medieval England. Good escapism, not too memorable in the long run but fun. I will read the rest of the series.
A medieval murder mystery, focusing on Justin de Quincy, illegitimate son of the Bishop of Chester, who agrees to investigate a murder on behalf of Eleanor of Aquitaine. I like Penman’s work and this was a little lighter glimpse into the world of her other medieval books. [Oct. 2010]
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