http://shelfandstuff.blogspot.com/200... ( )

What do Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard have in common? Not only were they the two wives that Henry VIII had beheaded for infidelity, they were also cousins. Their relationship, although not close, does make them ripe for comparison and logical for an intertwining of their stories.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, but also somewhat disappointingly, the majority of the book dealt with Anne, not Katherine. Katherine did get the some pages here and there during Anne’s ascendance and reign, and of course had the end to herself, but I would have liked to see a bit more of her.

Plaidy seems to treat both Anne and Katherine very evenhandedly. Anne has her faults and lets her power and fear go somewhat to her head, but she is not someone who deserves her execution. Katherine is a naive and sexual human being who essentially doesn’t know better than to dally with men in her grandmother’s house, but she isn’t the conniving nymphomaniac purposefully cuckolding Henry as other books sometimes describe her.

Like “To Hold the Crown,” this was one of Plaidy’s better, more flowing works. In some of her books the writing gets somewhat stilted and is more old fashioned, but that isn’t the case with “Murder Most Royal.” All you Tudor historical fiction fanatics, give this book a try. ( )

The third in the Tudor series, this is the story of cousins Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, the only two sitting Queens of England to be found guilty of treason and executed. Anne is portrayed as the true love of Henry VIII's life, which seems extremely plausible, as his marriage to Katherine of Aragon was a state marriage. Anne is seen with faults, but not enough to justify her death. Catherine is portrayed as a silly teenager, engaging in promiscuity which ultimately becomes her downfall. A very enjoyable book. ( )

A good read, but about 200 pages too long. While the descriptive writing is good, it bogs down along the way. I found that I muddled through and then simply scanned to the end.

This book is brilliant. i would recommend it to anyone. one of plaidy' more flowing books and she rambles less in this one. ( )