Sharon Kay Penman's Mystery

Not too long ago I was raving about Sharon Kay Penman's triumph "Splendour in the Sunne." I decided to read the first mystery in her Medieval Mystery series entitled "The Queen's Man." I thought it might be a good read since Will Thomas (he of Thomas Llewellyn and Cyrus Barker books) lists her as a favorite author of his.

Penman's mystery centers around the character of Justin de Quincy, an illegitimate son of a high cleric. Justin witnesses a murder, and he promises to take the letter being carried by the victim to the court of Queen Eleanor. Eleanor is now the Queen Mother while her son Richard the Lionhearted is ruling. Court intrigues and domestic secrets abound when Justin takes the letter to the Queen who then engages him to discover the murderer(s).

While the mystery isn't much of a mystery, the characters in this novel are so likable you manage to carry on. I particularly liked Luke de Marston, an undersheriff of Winchester, and Jonas, another undersheriff in London. Nell, the manager of an ale house, is another likable personage.

While I can't say that this book left me amazed at the story, the experience or the writing, I did enjoy it for what it was: a book to read by the pool.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Daring Tour de Force

I don't know why I haven't read Sharon Kay Penman's "The Sunne in Splendour" before now. Although it is over 25 years old and has recently been reprinted, I had never heard of it. I am sad that it took me this long to discover it. I think it is one of the finest books that I have ever read. I cannot praise it highly enough. It is quite simply phenomenal. There isn't a dull moment in the entire 900+ pages.


But, I should tell you something about this book. It is such a daring tome. Can one imagine turning King Richard III, he of the hunched back, he of the murder of the Princes in the Tower,
he of the lame foot/leg, into a likable, heroic character, even a noble prince?

It is difficult to imagine such an undertaking. It is even difficult to consider that it might be plausible. But Penman's writing, research and gifts make the impossible not only plausible but possible and probable. Yes, she did it. She has literally turned everything most of us think we know about Richard III.

The story is a complete cast of characters including Richard's parents, Richard's older brothers King Edward IV (Ned), and George, Duke of Clarence, as well as the various relations associated with the house of York including the Kingmaker, Warwick, his family and daughters who were both married to George and Richard. Even with a overabundance of characters who share names and the various alliances, marriages, etc., within the nobility, Penman manages to draw out character traits of each one and convincingly portrays Richard as perhaps the only principled, noble, earnest man in the lot!

I don't want to give away Penman's solution to who killed the Princes, but I do believe her conclusion to be possible. We shall never know, and again, this is a work of historical fiction, but I daresay that William Shakespeare has some explaining to do! (Not really .... we know he wrote populist history, and how could one very well portray the house of York sympathetically when it was not so far in the past and the Tudors were the very killers of Richard.)

In any case, if you enjoy historical fiction, if you think you know all there is to know about the War of the Roses, if you enjoy some romance with a bit of history, then you must read this book. You won't regret it.

And if you really get interested, check out the Richard III Society, dedicated to research and scholarship on the king.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.