[DCF]≡ Descargar Free Prince of Darkness A Medieval Mystery Sharon Kay Penman 9780425207819 Books

Prince of Darkness A Medieval Mystery Sharon Kay Penman 9780425207819 Books

Download As PDF : Prince of Darkness A Medieval Mystery Sharon Kay Penman 9780425207819 Books

Prince of Darkness A Medieval Mystery Sharon Kay Penman 9780425207819 Books

I am frustrated because with this book I have now read everything Sharon Kay Penman has written and I want MORE! This was a great read, and I think her best mystery yet. Any fan of Penman's work will have gotten this already. Anyone new to Penman...well, given her penchant for works done on an historical timeline I might tell you to start at the beginning with Here Be Dragons (Welsh Princes Trilogy Book 1) but that would put this book 13th in line and the historical novels are pretty long! You can enjoy it on its own of course but you might want to start with the first Justin de Quincy book (The Queen's Man: A Medieval Mystery (Justin de Quincy Mysteries Book 1).

To quote Richard Carlton's review of When Christ and His Saints Slept (Plantagenets Book 1), "Penman emerged long ago as one of the best historical novelists and continues to solidify her reputation with each new release. Her special genius lies in the bright and shining historical detail that she can weave into both plot and dialog (she's a very good student of history and at times is absolutely brilliant in conveying to us the workings of medieval minds)."

Having recently finished reading her most recent historical novel (A King's Ransom) from the same period involving some of the principals (Constance, John etc), it was especially fun to have a Justin de Quincy mystery set to the same background. Think of it as a sub-plot to the larger (704 pages) book. Using the same incredibly well done research on the people and events which characterizes all her books gives excellent texture to this novel. And like any good mystery I could see few things coming ahead of time.

Two very minor items: first, when I entered this review Amazon's web form asked me if there was sexual content. There is, but it is pretty tame, mainly innuendo and conversations with prostitutes in taverns (true to the period), nothing explicit, nothing I would mind my teen age children reading.

Second, this is a quibble but it is obvious proof-reading was done by a spell-checker and not a human, as there are way too many instances of the wrong but correctly spelled word in this book (and there were a couple in "A King's Ransom" as well). I hope word gets to the publisher this is being noticed.


Tags : Prince of Darkness (A Medieval Mystery) [Sharon Kay Penman] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Justin de Quincy is drawn into a high-level conspiracy when he is forced into a dangerous and uneasy alliance with his enemy,Sharon Kay Penman,Prince of Darkness (A Medieval Mystery),Berkley Trade,0425207811,Historical - General,Mystery & Detective - General,De Quincy, Justin (Fictitious character);Fiction.,Forgery of manuscripts;Fiction.,Great Britain;History;Richard I, 1189-1199;Fiction.,Brittany (France),De Quincy, Justin (Fictitious character),FICTION Historical General,FICTION Mystery & Detective General,Fiction,Fiction - Mystery Detective,Fiction General,Fiction-Mystery & Detective,Forgery of manuscripts,France,GENERAL,General Adult,Monograph Series, any,Mystery & Detective - Historical,MysterySuspense,PENMAN, SHARON KAY - PROSE & CRITICISM,United States

Prince of Darkness A Medieval Mystery Sharon Kay Penman 9780425207819 Books Reviews

The fourth installment in this series sees Justin de Quincy's adventures as the "Queen's man" continue. I found the first part of this story hard to delve into, probably because of the large gaps between books in this series. However, once past some of the more unfamiliar names and events the story began to come alive again. Justin is enlisted to help Prince John prove that a letter implicating him in a plot to assassinate his brother King Richard is a forgery. He unwillingly teams up with the man who originally tried to murder him at John's command, Durand. Plots and subplots abound in this story and Justin is also pressed upon to find the murderer of a lady, whom he grew to like and who was also an ally (spy & lover) of Prince John's.

Surprises are found around nearly every corner, mysterious characters are revealed and the plot thickens. Constance the Duchess of Brittany (widow of Geoffrey, John & Richard's brother) is believed to be at the center of the plot against Prince John. She wishes to see her own son, Arthur, John's nephew on the throne instead of another Angevin.

This mystery was a veritable page turner and ended much too soon for me! Alas, we will just have to wait to see what Justin is up to next as we await the next book in this series. Read this series, in order (The Queen's Man A Medieval Mystery, Cruel as the Grave and Dragon's Lair), as any one of them are really not a "stand alone" novel and are deeply entwined with one another.
The political intrigue of this court is no less than what might go on today The Queen is a fascinating woman who was wife to 2 kings and mother of 2 kings(Richard the Lion Hearted and King John). Surrounded by people with their own agenda, it's difficult to know who to trust. She found a commoner, Justin, who becomes her agent in whatever she needs him to do. He is honest and intelligent. I have all this series and many of her other books. Everyone has been a winner. Justin always has his work cut out for him, staying alive and protecting the Queen's business. John is just as devious as a person could be and has no scruples about serving his interests no matter what the cost to someone else.
I very highly recommend this as well as all her other books.
I've read most of Ms. Penman's historical novels and loved them. So I decided to try one of her historical mysteries and picked up this one.
Justin de Quincey works for Eleanor of Aquitaine usually but in this book, he is mostly working for her son, Prince John. There is a plot to implicate John (not difficult as he's usually working some treason against his brother Richard), but in this case, he's innocent. Justin travels in Brittany in an attempt to find the evidence to clear John's name.
I enjoyed the book, but not nearly so much as her books like The Sunne in Splendor or the Welsh prince trilogy. This is apparently the fourth book in the series, but it wasn't difficult to pick up the story and identify the characters who must have appeared in the previous books. The story was okay, not all that much of a mystery though in my opinion. Still, it's a fine read for historical fiction readers.
I am frustrated because with this book I have now read everything Sharon Kay Penman has written and I want MORE! This was a great read, and I think her best mystery yet. Any fan of Penman's work will have gotten this already. Anyone new to Penman...well, given her penchant for works done on an historical timeline I might tell you to start at the beginning with Here Be Dragons (Welsh Princes Trilogy Book 1) but that would put this book 13th in line and the historical novels are pretty long! You can enjoy it on its own of course but you might want to start with the first Justin de Quincy book (The Queen's Man A Medieval Mystery (Justin de Quincy Mysteries Book 1).

To quote Richard Carlton's review of When Christ and His Saints Slept (Plantagenets Book 1), "Penman emerged long ago as one of the best historical novelists and continues to solidify her reputation with each new release. Her special genius lies in the bright and shining historical detail that she can weave into both plot and dialog (she's a very good student of history and at times is absolutely brilliant in conveying to us the workings of medieval minds)."

Having recently finished reading her most recent historical novel (A King's Ransom) from the same period involving some of the principals (Constance, John etc), it was especially fun to have a Justin de Quincy mystery set to the same background. Think of it as a sub-plot to the larger (704 pages) book. Using the same incredibly well done research on the people and events which characterizes all her books gives excellent texture to this novel. And like any good mystery I could see few things coming ahead of time.

Two very minor items first, when I entered this review 's web form asked me if there was sexual content. There is, but it is pretty tame, mainly innuendo and conversations with prostitutes in taverns (true to the period), nothing explicit, nothing I would mind my teen age children reading.

Second, this is a quibble but it is obvious proof-reading was done by a spell-checker and not a human, as there are way too many instances of the wrong but correctly spelled word in this book (and there were a couple in "A King's Ransom" as well). I hope word gets to the publisher this is being noticed.