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David Becket and Simon Ames #2
Unicorn's Blood
In her first novel since the critically acclaimed FIREDRAKE'S EYE, Patricia Finney has written a masterpiece of voice, of historical detail and of psychological insight that rivals the best of Umberto Eco and Rose Tremain.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
14 people are currently reading
330 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Finney
83 books124 followersAKA P.F. Chisholm and Grace Cavendish
Patricia Finney's career started with a bang when her first novel A SHADOW OF GULLS was published before she went up to Oxford aged 18 to study History, back in the mists of time, when dinosaurs roamed.
Having found out early what she could do, she has kept doing it. To date she has (mainstream) published:
the Sir Robert Carey Elizabethan crime novels under the pen name PF Chisholm - eight of them so far;
three Elizabethan spy novels as Patricia Finney;
two Elizabethan noir novels as Patricia Finney;
one contemporary romantic thriller - LUCKY WOMAN - under Finney;
three children's books about Jack the daffy Labrador in Doglish (Finney) and various odds and sods including the sequel to GULLS and WRITERITIS, about how to write a novel.
You can find most of her work on http://www.climbingtreebooks.com except for the Sir Robert Carey (PF Chisholm) novels which are published by Poisoned Pen Press (USA) and Head of Zeus (UK).
Her dayjob career has been... complex. At the moment she is living in Hungary and learning Hungarian and writing a non-fiction book about her mother's adventures as a child in wartime Hungary. She is really enjoying not doing a dayjob at the moment.
Go to my website, read my blogs and reviews and sign up for my email newsletter - at http://www.patriciafinney.com
Patricia Finney's career started with a bang when her first novel A SHADOW OF GULLS was published before she went up to Oxford aged 18 to study History, back in the mists of time, when dinosaurs roamed.
Having found out early what she could do, she has kept doing it. To date she has (mainstream) published:
the Sir Robert Carey Elizabethan crime novels under the pen name PF Chisholm - eight of them so far;
three Elizabethan spy novels as Patricia Finney;
two Elizabethan noir novels as Patricia Finney;
one contemporary romantic thriller - LUCKY WOMAN - under Finney;
three children's books about Jack the daffy Labrador in Doglish (Finney) and various odds and sods including the sequel to GULLS and WRITERITIS, about how to write a novel.
You can find most of her work on http://www.climbingtreebooks.com except for the Sir Robert Carey (PF Chisholm) novels which are published by Poisoned Pen Press (USA) and Head of Zeus (UK).
Her dayjob career has been... complex. At the moment she is living in Hungary and learning Hungarian and writing a non-fiction book about her mother's adventures as a child in wartime Hungary. She is really enjoying not doing a dayjob at the moment.
Go to my website, read my blogs and reviews and sign up for my email newsletter - at http://www.patriciafinney.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
June 29, 2021
This author also writes under the name of P.F. Chisholm and is responsible for the wonderful Elizabethan series about Sir Robert Carey. I was delighted when Carey managed to sneak himself into this book and almost took the whole thing over. Even as a very young man he was a delight!
Anyway the book was not actually about him but was the second in the series about David Becket and Simon Ames. They both spend a lot of time in the course of the story in prison, either in the Fleet or in the Tower and the discomfort and suffering in both is very well described. There is also a lot about Queen Elizabeth and the way of life in her court, including much about the hygiene of the day or rather the lack of it.
The author knows her subject well and enjoys sharing the good, the bad and the very bad about Elizabethan life. I enjoyed all the characters and the story and discovered a few facts I did not already know about Queen Elizabeth and other famous people of the day. A good story well told and well worth reading.
Anyway the book was not actually about him but was the second in the series about David Becket and Simon Ames. They both spend a lot of time in the course of the story in prison, either in the Fleet or in the Tower and the discomfort and suffering in both is very well described. There is also a lot about Queen Elizabeth and the way of life in her court, including much about the hygiene of the day or rather the lack of it.
The author knows her subject well and enjoys sharing the good, the bad and the very bad about Elizabethan life. I enjoyed all the characters and the story and discovered a few facts I did not already know about Queen Elizabeth and other famous people of the day. A good story well told and well worth reading.
July 9, 2013
sorry
worthless piece of trash..!!
worthless piece of trash..!!
March 15, 2018
Queen Elizabeth I flaunted her famed virginity, but there were always unsubstantiated rumors that she was less than chaste: that she had taken lovers, and had even born an illegitimate child who either died or was spirited away. This book takes inspiration from one of those rumors; a plausible scenario for which there is absolutely no evidence. The point of view of Elizabeth is a minor part of this book, but it is exceptionally well done.
The narrator is none other than the Virgin Mary. It’s a device which works a little better than the madman’s narration in the previous book. It only really enhances the story, though, because one of the characters is a pathetic, demented old woman, a former nun who ended up on the streets after the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. She cleaves to the Virgin, having rejected Christ as the husband who abandoned her.
I found the actual plot and action in this book to be rather implausible, and I regret the employment of a convenient case of amnesia, but the setting and the characters are so good that those flaws didn’t matter.
It was nice to see Sir Robert Carey in a small role. I very much enjoy Finney’s mystery series which features Carey, set a few years after the events of this book.
There’s some interesting incidental commentary on medieval sanitation. What happens to the contents of all those chamber pots which are daily filled and then emptied by the hundreds of servants and courtiers at the Queen’s court?
There are some torture scenes which are, well, Elizabethan, so be warned if you’re squeamish.
The narrator is none other than the Virgin Mary. It’s a device which works a little better than the madman’s narration in the previous book. It only really enhances the story, though, because one of the characters is a pathetic, demented old woman, a former nun who ended up on the streets after the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. She cleaves to the Virgin, having rejected Christ as the husband who abandoned her.
I found the actual plot and action in this book to be rather implausible, and I regret the employment of a convenient case of amnesia, but the setting and the characters are so good that those flaws didn’t matter.
It was nice to see Sir Robert Carey in a small role. I very much enjoy Finney’s mystery series which features Carey, set a few years after the events of this book.
There’s some interesting incidental commentary on medieval sanitation. What happens to the contents of all those chamber pots which are daily filled and then emptied by the hundreds of servants and courtiers at the Queen’s court?
There are some torture scenes which are, well, Elizabethan, so be warned if you’re squeamish.
September 21, 2012
I don’t read a lot of this type of thing – either Elizabethean novels or thrillers – but even though I don't have a lot of basis for comparison, I have to think that Patricia Finney is really good at this. This was a rollicking good entertainment: a fast-paced story of political intrigue, with vivid and colorful descriptions of 16th century London, and a great portrait of Queen Elizabeth I as an imperious, ink-pot throwing bitch. Other characters include an alcoholic great-grandmother, a former nun made homeless when Henry VIII closed the convents, who works as the Court’s night soil collector and is determined to find a dowry for her great-granddaughter Pentecost so she doesn’t have to become a 3th generation prostitute; a somersaulting female dwarf who is the Queen’s Fool and who undertakes a dangerous assignment to keep sensitive information out of the hands of the Queen’s enemies; and, from Finney’s earlier book Firedrake's Eye, David Becket the sword master and Simon Ames the clerk. And a gallery of bad guys too, too numerous to mention. Totally speculative fiction, with roots in reality: what might have been if x-y-z had happened.
June 3, 2015
The second novel in the David Beckett and Simon Ames series, Unicorn’s Blood by Patricia Finney is a cracker of a read. Set a few years after the first instalment, Firedrake’s Eye, though it features our erstwhile and now estranged heroes, it’s very much a tale about a diary the young Princess Elizabeth kept that, if it should fall into the wrong hands, could mark the end of her glorious reign.
Discovering the diary, which has a unicorn upon the front replete with a ruby eye, is missing, Elizabeth tasks her trusted servant, the dwarf, Thomasina with finding it. But Thomasina’s quest is just one of the narrative threads; the others involve Simon and David, a former nun who is now the queen’s nightsoil woman and her granddaughter, a courtier who has become too grandiose for his already considerable boots, and Sir Francis Walsingham and his intelligencers, all of whom together prove we do indeed weave a tangled web. From the freshly scented rooms of the courts, to the stench of the streets of Bankside and the Stews, to the cruelty and fierceness of the prisons, the barbarity of torture and depravation, to the female-centred spaces of the laundries of the palaces, to the ditches and snickets of London, Finney conjures up a real and lived place and time. Like it or not, you can breath the malodorous fumes of people and lanes, hear the tolling bells or screams and sobs of prisoners, many punitively punished for little more than trying to eke out an existence, and feel gratitude that we live in the era (for all that’s wrong with it) that we do.
Narrated by none other than Virgin Mary (Finney’s originality with this works so well and adds a fantastical element to the novel) and featuring a few of the characters from Firedrake’s Eye, this is such a beautifully written and structured story that reveals both Finney’s knowledge of the era and skill as a writer.
Filled with philosophical insights and reflections on class, social (in)justice, female sexuality and the very real burden of gender in those times, the book swings from heart-wrenching, to exciting, depressing, all the while respecting and understanding that history, whether fictive or factual, is worth revisiting for any number of reasons.
A stellar book by a fantastic writer.
Discovering the diary, which has a unicorn upon the front replete with a ruby eye, is missing, Elizabeth tasks her trusted servant, the dwarf, Thomasina with finding it. But Thomasina’s quest is just one of the narrative threads; the others involve Simon and David, a former nun who is now the queen’s nightsoil woman and her granddaughter, a courtier who has become too grandiose for his already considerable boots, and Sir Francis Walsingham and his intelligencers, all of whom together prove we do indeed weave a tangled web. From the freshly scented rooms of the courts, to the stench of the streets of Bankside and the Stews, to the cruelty and fierceness of the prisons, the barbarity of torture and depravation, to the female-centred spaces of the laundries of the palaces, to the ditches and snickets of London, Finney conjures up a real and lived place and time. Like it or not, you can breath the malodorous fumes of people and lanes, hear the tolling bells or screams and sobs of prisoners, many punitively punished for little more than trying to eke out an existence, and feel gratitude that we live in the era (for all that’s wrong with it) that we do.
Narrated by none other than Virgin Mary (Finney’s originality with this works so well and adds a fantastical element to the novel) and featuring a few of the characters from Firedrake’s Eye, this is such a beautifully written and structured story that reveals both Finney’s knowledge of the era and skill as a writer.
Filled with philosophical insights and reflections on class, social (in)justice, female sexuality and the very real burden of gender in those times, the book swings from heart-wrenching, to exciting, depressing, all the while respecting and understanding that history, whether fictive or factual, is worth revisiting for any number of reasons.
A stellar book by a fantastic writer.
February 25, 2014
I don't remember much about the plot parts of Firedrake's Eye, and I kind of wish I'd reread it - though less because Unicorn's Blood relies on the stuff that happens in that book in any particularly confusing way and more because it's quite a good book and I like Ames and Becket very much and they don't get to hang out that much in Unicorn's Blood. So that's kind of a bummer. Also .
The virtues of the first novel are here again - particularly the prose. I did find the ruminations about gender a bit too on the nose, but it helped that it was mostly from women and that the men were as oblivious as they would be. The use of religious conflicts is more nuanced than you usually get in historical novels, too.
Also, like the first book, there's some genuinely weird narrative stuff going on. Which is A++.
Still holding out hope that the next book isn't the last. The gaps between the three published novels are significant, so maybe more will eventually be on the way . . .?
The virtues of the first novel are here again - particularly the prose. I did find the ruminations about gender a bit too on the nose, but it helped that it was mostly from women and that the men were as oblivious as they would be. The use of religious conflicts is more nuanced than you usually get in historical novels, too.
Also, like the first book, there's some genuinely weird narrative stuff going on. Which is A++.
Still holding out hope that the next book isn't the last. The gaps between the three published novels are significant, so maybe more will eventually be on the way . . .?
March 11, 2019
An Elizabethan mystery by an Oxford-trained historian with an eye for the telling detail - I found it fascinating throughout. The Unicorn in question is embroidered on the cover of a journal Elizabeth I kept while a young princess in the care of her father's last wife and widow - Catherine Parr. What's in it is a threat to the queen more serious even than that posed by her cousin Mary, the former Queen of Scotland and her rival for the throne of England. David Becket (a soldier and former Sword Master) and Simon Ames (a former pursuivant, or priest-catcher) are both intent on recovering the Unicorn and its long-held secrets, but so are Tom Hart, a Jesuit, and the fiercely Protestant Mr. Davison, one of Walsingham's sly spymasters. Likewise Thomasina, the Queen's Fool and a midget of many talents, who would do almost anything to save her mistress. Much of the tale is told by a witness invisible to nearly all of them - Mary, Mother of God, whose sympathetic tears never blind Her to human frailty. The tale of their searches, complete with foot chases, murders, deception and torture, is enriched by its many psychological insights and descriptions of settings that become characters in and of themselves - the dungeons of the Tower of London, the Fleet Street prison, the queen's own private quarters at Whitehall, a brothel called the Falcon, and of course the palace's laundry facilities. I intend to search out the rest of Finney's books, in this series and others related to it.
November 16, 2013
Again, Finney's depiction of Elizabethan England's underbelly and intrigue were fascinating. The main strand of the story follows a disillusioned, former nun, deposed when Henry VIII sought to destroy all things Catholic (and as she points out what IS there for a single woman past child-bearing age to DO if not a nun...) who, after various sordid events (one of which happens to put her into contact with the then Princess Elizabeth), comes to take up a job as the Court's night soil woman (yes, there was someone assigned to empty the chamber pots & keep such unpleasantness away from the finicky Queen). Finney expertly moves us from torture chambers in the Tower, to seedy boozing dens on the South bank, and, this time, to the inner chambers of the now Queen Elizabeth who is vehemently against executing her cousin Queen and is somewhat desperate to keep power out of the hands of a couple of her more Puritan councillors who are trying to force her hand...though the historical context is real, Finney creates an interesting fictional scandal, that may or may not have involved the 15 year old princess, that brings together the unlikely duo of Becket and Ames to discover and conceal it before she must capitulate. You never quite know who is on what side until the very end and Finney keeps you turning pages :) Elizabethan espionage is great fun to read :)
December 24, 2011
I have not read Patricia Finney before, and this is a sequel to ‘Firedrake’s Eye’, but that did not matter. The book stands alone and is well-written. It makes for a great read as historical fiction and as a thriller. I found the characters believable and I cared about what was happening to them. I also found the book to be a good reflection of the Elizabethan era, with plenty of disgusting, but very adult, details to rival the children’s series, ‘Horrible History’. I shall definitely try some of her other books.
March 21, 2016
Fascinating read
A look behind the scenes at Queen Elizabeth the First's court. The spies, courtiers, whores, Queen's ladies and the Privy Councillors all combine to make this a fascinating book.
A look behind the scenes at Queen Elizabeth the First's court. The spies, courtiers, whores, Queen's ladies and the Privy Councillors all combine to make this a fascinating book.
August 11, 2009
I LOVE Patricia Finney! Great historical mystery.
December 22, 2017
Most excellent!
August 20, 2019
Perfect example of an excellent historical novel! Rich in atmosphere.
September 8, 2018
I found this novel at a used bookstore for a $1. But one should have judge a book by its cover or it's price!
Finney does a delightful job of drawing the reader into the tenderness and innocence of Pentecost, the child; the pain and sorrow of an aging Queen; and all the historical drama surrounding the court itself during this time period of mired political and religious change!
Finney does a delightful job of drawing the reader into the tenderness and innocence of Pentecost, the child; the pain and sorrow of an aging Queen; and all the historical drama surrounding the court itself during this time period of mired political and religious change!
May 4, 2020
An interesting take on what made Elizabeth 1 decide to sign Mary Queen of Scots death warrant. I found the pace of the book irregular - exciting at times, but also plodded along. The descriptions of the Fleet prison and other aspects of everyday life including the treatment of women, provided a good view of the underbelly of Elizabethan life.
April 12, 2023
I think this was at least my third read of this book and yet I had zero recollection of it whatsoever, apart from the character Thomasina. It’s a ripping good yarn though, at the very top of the Tudor historical mystery genre. Will definitely dig her other books up. The mystery
Makes sense, the history is good, and the characters are very compelling.
Makes sense, the history is good, and the characters are very compelling.
October 8, 2018
An enjoyable romp through Elizabethan (I) England!
April 2, 2023
Finally read this one about six months ago, and I don't know why I waited. It was so twisty and clever and absorbing! A great series.
July 6, 2024
was good but not amazing x
July 20, 2009
As a student of Early Modern history and literature, I had snapped up Firedrake's Eye which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially for its recreation of Elizabethan London. Finney's insight had produced a far more authentic evocation of that time and place than I had found in other literature but the plot of the book was slightly less than brilliant, not bad at all but not quite a match for her narrative abilities and characterisation. In Unicorn's Blood, she has stepped up a gear and produced a remarkable book with vivid characters, a dazzling evocation of C16 London and a most satisfying plot. To some readers the story itself may seem a little far-fetched but when one looks at the well-documented scandals that rocked the Court of Elizabeth's successor, this tale is perfectly in keeping with the intrigues of the times. It's a few years since I read the work but still vivid is the visceral description of torture and imprisonment from the point of view of a prisoner in an oubliette. Finney deliberately starts the reader as much in the dark as the prisoner, unfolding the truth of his situation through his painful observations. This is only one of a number of brilliantly realised episodes.
When there was a dearth of fiction set in this period, I fancied that perhaps here was a niche that I could fill. Finney has blown any ambitions of that sort out of the water. It would take an incredibly accomplished writer with meticulous research to come anywhere near to matching her. I shall satisfy myself with reading her work.
When there was a dearth of fiction set in this period, I fancied that perhaps here was a niche that I could fill. Finney has blown any ambitions of that sort out of the water. It would take an incredibly accomplished writer with meticulous research to come anywhere near to matching her. I shall satisfy myself with reading her work.
October 31, 2014
Patricia Finney's second Elizabethan espionage thriller is even better than the first (and the third is even better still, but we'll get to that.) Narrated by the Madonna herself, the Virgin Mary, who moves from scene to scene with grace and compassion, the muti-stranded narratvie concerns an old scandal from childhood of Queen Elizabeth, and the Book of the Unicorn, which contains the secret, and the factions searching furiously and ruthlessly for said book which promises to either destroy or grant absolute control over the Queen.
A Catholic priest hiding from the pursuivants hears an old woman's confession, and hatches a scheme. Protestant priest-hunters and courtiers, pressing for the execution of Mary Queen of Scots have a chance to put Elizabeth herself in her place. A man wakes in the Tower with no memory of who he is, Simon Ames comes back from the dead to rescue an old friend, and the Queen's Fool sets out to save her mistress.
A brilliant thriller that lays out life in the Westminister Court of the Virgin Queen, from the morning routines of the Queen and her women to the cut-throat world of the courtiers and counsellers, to the lowest cellar where the night-soil is collected and stored, the plots and counter-plots, the politics and the unforgiving religious hatreds are all brought to sinister, dangerous life.
Superbly written, full of detail and living, breathing characters and sly commentaries on religious extremism and misogyny, this is a top-notch novel of historical intrigue.
A Catholic priest hiding from the pursuivants hears an old woman's confession, and hatches a scheme. Protestant priest-hunters and courtiers, pressing for the execution of Mary Queen of Scots have a chance to put Elizabeth herself in her place. A man wakes in the Tower with no memory of who he is, Simon Ames comes back from the dead to rescue an old friend, and the Queen's Fool sets out to save her mistress.
A brilliant thriller that lays out life in the Westminister Court of the Virgin Queen, from the morning routines of the Queen and her women to the cut-throat world of the courtiers and counsellers, to the lowest cellar where the night-soil is collected and stored, the plots and counter-plots, the politics and the unforgiving religious hatreds are all brought to sinister, dangerous life.
Superbly written, full of detail and living, breathing characters and sly commentaries on religious extremism and misogyny, this is a top-notch novel of historical intrigue.
February 1, 2016
This is the second book in the David Becket and Simon Ames series. This one focuses more directly on Queen Elizabeth. Events in the first book have separated David and Simon, but circumstances bring them back together. The Queen is worried about the reappearance of a diary that she wrote as a teenaged girl, one that has potentially damning evidence against her. She has several agents searching for the book, including her fool, who, as a dwarf, can use her small stature to appear as a child. The Queen is also dealing with the potential execution of Mary Queen of Scots and is being pressured by her advisors. As in the first book, there is an unusual omniscient narrator, this time the Virgin Mary, and a disgruntled former nun plays a key role in the story.
May 10, 2008
I expected to love this. I love Finney´s historical mystery Elizabethan scottish border far west books ( honestly. And so much better than it sounds) written as P.F. Chisholm. I am in awe of her first book, a cool brilliant human retelling of some Cu Cuchulain myths. But this, a sequel to Firedrake´s Eye left me unsatisfied. It was maybe too thriller like, too sensational, too Hollywood if that makes sense. Which is strange because she wrote things I find so much better which seem to have received so much less attention than these Elizabethan thrillers.
March 31, 2010
This historical novel was interesting and fairly exciting. It follows the hunt for a book that contains admissions that could seriously endanger Queen Elizabeth I. The novel has a cast of interesting characters, including Thomasina, the Queen's muliercula (dwarf entertainer), several of Walsingham's spies and inquisitors, and an aged, alcoholic, ruined former nun. Into the intricate plot Finney weaves some sharp commentary on the cruel hypocrisy and paradoxes of a patriarchal society's view of female sexuality.
June 28, 2016
I like this book a lot. It provided a unique and interesting take on the mid-Elizabethan years and added a twist on a period of history that has been done many times before. I enjoyed the writing style and the character development. I wanted a little something more for the ending....not sure what, but it didn't sparkle as much as the rest of the book. Overall, a very good read and if you like novels set in this time period, then I highly recommend.
June 17, 2014
A slow read for me, as it's written similar to the style of the period, but otherwise well-written and enjoyable. Author gives 'behind the scenes' glimpses into what it's really like to be the Queen and those who surround her. The story line is interesting, but so far, the pacing of the story is slow. Hoping it picks up soon.
May 16, 2020
After an exhaustive search for a diary Elizabeth kept as a young princess living with widowed Queen Katherine Parr and her husband Admiral Thomas Seymour, Elizabethan agents David Becket and Simon Ames adventure into the Spanish Netherlands in search of damaging information about the Armada preparations. Another brilliant historical novel of Tudor England--sequel to FIREDRAKE'S EYE.
May 9, 2009
This book was okay. I picked it up at a clearance book sale for a quarter. Interesting view of Elizabethan England, but I got confused and bored with all the politics going on. Also, I thought there was too much completely unneccessary foul language used.
April 30, 2013
Another good mystery novel set in Elizabethan England. I especially enjoy the vivid descriptions of London at the time...the people, the customs, court life and the political intrigue that swirled around the royals...
May 29, 2011
I picked it for the cover and the title.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews