The Queen's Man (1996)

This is a good beach read for those who like historical mysteries. Accurately researched, fun, active, not deep. The book is set in a tense period, when Richard the Lionhearted is off on his crusade and is missing from the throne. He should be back by now, his ship should have docked a while ago, but nobody knows where he is. Penman does a good job of depicting the tension and the strategic struggles around the throne. I also like the way she draws Eleanor of Aquitaine, making her both subtle and strong. ( )

This is a good beach read for those who like historical mysteries. Accurately researched, fun, active, not deep. The book is set in a tense period, when Richard the Lionhearted is off on his crusade and is missing from the throne. He should be back by now, his ship should have docked a while ago, but nobody knows where he is. Penman does a good job of depicting the tension and the strategic struggles around the throne. I also like the way she draws Eleanor of Aquitaine, making her both subtle and strong. ( )

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] ( )

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. He does so and the news it contains has wide reaching implications - so much so that the Queen then tasks him with finding out who killed the original messenger and why. Justin is not necessarily the most well equipped person to do this, but he gets there in the end. ( )

Hmmm. I'm really not sure if I liked it. The mystery was well-done, of a type I usually don't like. The setting is one I enjoy (I've been a Robin Hood fan since I could read, so Richard and John is always fun), and reasonably well-done, though there was one big hole - the only time Justin was mentioned as going to Mass was a Monday, to pray for a dead man. If he was going to church every Sunday, it should have been mentioned as something taking his time; if he wasn't, that would have been curious and noticeable in that time, and might well have gotten him accused of heresy or the like. I don't know if she has the same hole in her pure historical fiction - she mentions at the end that this book was a departure for her, being a made-up mystery with a preponderance of fictional characters. Well, guess I need to read some others by her and see... The book also had very well-drawn characters - Justin himself is great, I can see him growing up as the book progresses. Several of the others are well and realistically drawn and very unpleasant characters, or utterly twisty-minded plotters (including, historically accurately, Queen Eleanor) - the sort of people I don't really enjoy reading about. But they're not one-note characters - they all have breadth and depth to them. Yes. I'm still not sure the book was entirely enjoyable, but it was definitely worth reading, and I want to read more - both more of Justin's story (there's two more books) and more of Penman's works. ( )