The Noble Assassin by Christie Dickason

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A thrilling account of one of English history's most daring women, who risked everything in the dark days leading up to the Civil War. The perfect novel for fans of Suzannah Dunn and Phillipa Gregory. Court beauty, Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford, feels frustrated by life with her weak husband. Poverty stricken, they are confined to their country estate and excluded from court life in London after he disastrously allies himself against Elizabeth I. Now, some years later, James I is seated show more on the English throne. His daughter, Elizabeth Stuart, former confidant of Lucy, has married the King of Bohemia. The precarious political situation in Europe is fraught, setting father against daughter. When Elizabeth and her husband are deposed, exiled and forced on the run, James is in no mood to come to Elizabeth's aid. Hearing of Elizabeth's predicament, Lucy sees an opportunity to re-establish the Bedford name and offers herself as a peace envoy between the two parties. Setting out on a daring mission across the channel, Lucy discovers she is being manipulated by unscrupulous men, not least the calculating and darkly handsome Duke of Buckingham. Can Lucy tread this most dangerous path, or by risking everything, will she pay the ultimate price? show less

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Lisa17 32 reviews

Not my cup of tea. Honestly, I found the storyline boring, and the protagonist thoroughly unlikeable. The story was meant to follow on from an earlier book by the author, The King's Daughter, but there were inconsistencies which just drove me mad. The writing style felt like the author was trying to reel off lots of information in a hurry, and the tenses were all over the place. There was something about the way Lucy's internal monologue was written that reminded me of Philippa Gregory at her worst (think Mary QoS in The Other Queen).Sorry, just didn't like this one.

Jan 24, 2014

louiseog 58 reviews

I came to this book with high hopes having loved all the previous ones by Christa Dickinson. Somehow this one left me cold. The story of Lucy Countess of Bedford who is out of favour and wants to be back in to make her fortune did not engage me.
On reflection i think that this is brave attempt by the author as the heroine was not a sympathetic one. But in order to make her more appealing there was too much emphasis on how awful her life had been which historically apt when told in the first person made her a difficult character to warm to. I felt that more about Elizabeth of Bohemia or the Lucy of early scenes who was racing to court to meet the new queen would have hooked me more
This book left me a bit confused or not caring enough show more about the characters to care about what happened to them.
A great study of intrigue and plots but did not engage me. show less

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