Courting Dragons
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Introducing Will Somers, the king's jester but nobody's fool in this exuberant, intriguing and thoroughly entertaining mystery set in Tudor England – the first in a new series from the author of the critically acclaimed Crispin Guest Medieval Noir series
1528, London. Jester Will Somers enjoys an enviable position at the court of Henry VII. As the king's entertainer, chief gossip-monger, spy and loyal adviser, he knows all of the king's secrets – and almost everyone else's within the walls of Greenwich Palace.
But when Will discovers the body of Spanish count Don Gonzalo while walking his trusted sidekick Nosewise in the courtyard gardens, and a blackmail note arrives soon after demanding information about the king, is one of his own closely guarded secrets about to be exposed? Trouble is afoot at the palace. Are the king's enemies plotting a move against him? Will must draw on all his wit and ingenuity to get to the bottom of the treacherous and deadly goings-on at the court before further tragedy strikes . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1529, this impressive series launch from Westerson (the Crispin Guest medieval noir series) introduces an unusual lead, Will Somers, Henry VIII's actual court jester. In this role, Somers has free rein of the royal court, where he often overhears secrets. At Greenwich palace, Somers meets Don Gonzalo de Yscar, an aide to the ambassador to the Holy Roman Emperor. The two men form an attraction, and act on it, but it isn't long before Somers chances upon Gonzalo's corpse in the palace gardens, his throat slit. That shock is compounded when Somers receives an anonymous note stating that its sender knows of his liaison and threatening to inform the king of it unless he attends a midnight meeting—and reveals secrets about the monarch. To remove the threat to himself and the realm, Somers must learn who's behind the murder and the extortion. Somers proves an able sleuth, and Westerson does a fine job evoking the period's political intrigue. Devotees of Alan Gordon's Fools' Guild mysteries will welcome this promising series.
