A Queen's Spy - Largeprint Version: Tudor Historical Fiction - Murder, Mystery & Intrigue in 16th Century England

by Sam Burnell

677 pages, Paperback

Published February 3, 2024

Reviews

[Cidney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! I was introduced to Richard Fitzwarren in the book called "Invisible Betrayal" where he was helping out a money lending friend Miles Devereux whose bookkeeper was found murdered. That was the first book in the Devereux series. This is a different series with "Queen's..." as the heading of each book. HenryVIII's young son Edward, King of England at 9 dead at 16 leaving his eldest sister Mary to become Queen, however she is a catholic and this is no longer a catholic country, her younger sister Elizabeth is a protestant in Henry's old kingdom. There are warring factions at play here, and Fitzwarren is on both sides. He grew up in Catherine Parr's household with Elizabeth so naturally is a close friend of her's but her elder sister Mary would be first in line to be crowned and there are people out there who don't want that to happen. Henry's will and subsequently Edward's has left the country in a right mess. And which side of the fence is Richard Fitzwarren going to sit? Well he straddles both.

This book is quite brutal in parts as Richard is not only fighting to get Mary to the throne but also his youger brother (or is he!) who rescued him when he was attacked in the forest by their nasty piece of works oldest brother Robert Fitzwarren. The mini battle episodes are where the brutality omes in, but there is some mild humour running through the book in parts which breaks it up a little. There was a lot of intrigue too and in places even I became a bit confused as to what Richard and his brother Jack were up to and why, as Richard Fitzwarren plays his cards close to his chest.

I've been checking up on amazon for the rest of the series and they have the next 5 on sale at the moment, and am wondering what shall I dispose of buying next week to be able to buy this set! I think it will be worth it but my food bill comes first!! I think this is going to be an incredible series though as the Fitzwarren brothers are becoming closer and the fate of England isn't yet secure. I think buying the series may win, I could do with losing a bit of weight really...!

This isn't the Large Print version of the book, it's the kindle editiion, but that didn't come up, well not with this front cover it didn't!

[Nimalee Ravi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first read by the author and what an introduction to the Tudors world. The story is fast-paced with complex and intriguing relationships and politics. The relationship between the brothers Jack and Richard is complex yet so gripping.

The writing style is very captivating, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the fighting scenes. A Queen's Spy is definitely a well written, thoroughly researched book, and it's a great read.