First in the Justin de Quincy medieval mystery series, set in 1193 England.

Justin, the illegitimate son of the Bishop of Chester, after confronting his father over his birth, starts on his way from Winchester to London hoping to be able to find a way to make a living there. But a short way out of the city, he comes to the aid of a goldsmith and his groom who are attacked by robbers. Justin drives them f, but the goldsmith is mortally wounded. Before he dies, he entrusts to Justin an important letter, to be delivered to Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, who is ruling in her son Richard I’s absence; Richard has been missing for 3 months upon returning from a crusade and his younger brother John is scheming to take the crown. Justin makes good on his promise. The letter’s news is not good; Richard has been captured and imprisoned by the Duke of Austria who, along with Phillip of France, is Richard’s enemy. Eleanor hires Justin to find out who was behind the murder of the goldsmith in hopes of foiling a plot against Richard’s crown.

This book was a major disappointment after reading Penman’s outstanding historical fiction of the same era, of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. In those books, Penman made the characters of Henry, Eleanor and other historical figures come alive; her fictional characters were so well done that they were indistinguishable from the historical ones. She did a remarkable job of staying within the bounds of historical accuracy while telling an excellent, absorbing story.

She falls far short of that standard in The Queen’s Man. Her writing is rather wooden, and the characters are pretty much stock, one-dimensional ones. There’s Justin, the bastard; Luke, the under-sheriff; a kind-hearted prostitute; Nell, the feisty inn keeper, and so on. There is nothing remarkable about any of them; you meet them in the plots of dozens of books. Eleanor, whom Penman portrayed so well in her other books, is pretty pallid. They walk, they talk, they fight and it’s all a little boring. You’ve read it all before.

Perhaps Penman does better within a more restricted framework of having to stick closely to historical fact than she does in a more free-wheeling genre such as the medieval mystery.

While there are parts of the plot that are well-written, and there is a nice twist at the end, on the whole I’d have to rate this book as interesting if you have nothing else to read. If I had access to a library, I might have gone on with the series; since I have to buy all my books, I won’t waste money or bookcase space on the others. ( )

In this book set between December 1192 and March 1193, the main question on everyone’s mind is: "Where is Richard the Lionheart?" Justin de Quincy fulfills a dying man’s request to deliver a letter to Queen Eleanor and soon finds himself caught in royal politics between Eleanor and Richard’s younger brother John. Justin becomes the Queen’s man and is sent to investigate the death of the original messenger. This is great historical fiction, and the first in the de Quincy mystery series.

Protagonist: Justin de Quincy
Setting: Winchester and London, England, 1193
Series: #1

First Line: "Do you think the king is dead?"

Justin de Quincy didn't take well to the knowledge that he's the illegitimate, albeit well-educated, son of a bishop. Starting life anew, he's on the road one very snowy day and witnesses the murder of a goldsmith. As the goldsmith lay dying, he entrusts some very important letters to Justin for delivery to the queen. Justin delivers the letters to a very worried Eleanor of Acquitaine. Her son, King Richard the Lionheart, has been missing for two months, and her youngest son, John, is already plotting to take the throne. It is imperative for her to know the identity of the goldsmith's killer, and she charges Justin with the task. Eleanor is a shrewd judge of character, because Justin turns out to be the very person needed to solve the mystery.

Although all the villains of this piece are a tad cardboard, the "good guys" are all very well-drawn. Justin is a treat: young and naive, but with a ready wit and a true sense of honor and justice. The sense of place and time is excellent but never encumbers the story. Swords clang, snow flies, bodices are ripped, and all turns out well in the end. The Queen's Man was a delight to read, and I'll be looking for more books in this series. ( )

Sharon Kay Penman is probably best known for her novels (not this mystery series). Her novels, set in 12th century England and Wales, are historically accurate and rich with period detail. The characters are complex and fully drawn. Also, the novels are long - best suited to a reader who appreciates a leisurely-paced tale. Penman's mystery series featuring Justin de Quincy, courier to Eleanor of Aquitaine, are shorter and faster-paced, but still filled with colorful and accurate historical detail. (~ Paige Chernow, SPL)

Justin De Quincy is a young lost soul who is trying to find his place in the world. He is the unacknowledged bastard of a Church Bishop and has to find his way in a world that is comlicated and evil than he has imagined. He is smart, quick, loyal, and spots details that lead him to figure out mysteries and keep himself alive.
This is the start of very good series. ( )