Dark Queen Waiting
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Christopher Urswicke must unmask the traitor lurking amongst Margaret Beaufort’s supposedly loyal followers in this gripping medieval mystery.
October, 1471. Edward IV sits on the English throne; the House of York reigns supreme. With her young son, Henry Tudor, in exile in France, Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, shelters deep in the shadows, secretly plotting for the day when Henry can be crowned the rightful king.
But as her supporters are picked off one by one, it becomes clear that a traitor lurks within Margaret’s household. When one of her most loyal henchmen, Jacob Cromart, is murdered in St Michael’s Church, where he had claimed sanctuary, Margaret orders her sharp-witted clerk, Christopher Urswicke, to find out who has betrayed her.
How could a man be killed inside a church where the doors are all locked, with no sign of an intruder or weapon? If he is to protect Margaret’s remaining supporters from suffering a similar fate, Urswicke must solve a baffling mystery where nothing is as it first appears.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1471 against the backdrop of England's Wars of the Roses, Doherty's atmospheric if flawed sequel to 2018's Dark Queen Rising finds Countess Margaret Beaufort, mother of the future Henry VII, desperate to get her loyal followers out of the country. They are being murdered one by one, sometimes while supposedly safe in sanctuary in church. Is there a traitor among them? Margaret asks Christopher Urswicke, her personal clerk, to investigate. Given the many characters and a shifting, sometimes omniscient point of view, readers may struggle to engage with the protagonists, particularly since the saintly Margaret and Urswicke have no personal flaws. Another problem is the overuse of such words as retorted and demanded. As a mystery, the story sometimes feels unfocused, but as a historical novel it succeeds, with nuanced depictions of such real-life notables as Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the future Richard III. London at night dirty, damp, brutal makes a convincing setting. Fans of late medieval historicals will be rewarded.
