Monday, March 03, 2008

Lady Grace Mysteries: Assassin (book review)


Assassin, by Patricia Finney, is the story of Lady Grace. She is lady-in-waiting to Her Majesty the Queen of England, Elizabeth I. But Lady Grace isn't like her fellow ladies in waiting. She isn't afraid to get down and dirty if it involves a mystery. And now, Lady Grace has one on her hands. One of her suitors is dead with a knife in his back. Another one is under suspicion, and yet another suitor of hers has been acting strangely ever since the murder. Can Lady Grace, along with a daring Middle Eastern acrobat and a serving girl, solve the mystery and find out who truly murdered Sir Gerald?

This book was okay, but certainly not one of my favorites. I'm looking forward to reading the next one, but there are definitely other books I would like to read first. I did, however, think the mix of historical fiction and mystery made the story interesting and exciting.

3 comments:

Jean said...

Annie, if you like a mix of history and mystery, you might want to check out the Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters. Cadfael is a monk in an abbey in 10th century England, near the border with Wales. He's the abbey's herbalist. He also became a monk late in life, after soldiering in the Crusades. I will warn you that some of the stories are a bit violent, but then the Middle Ages were a violent time. So maybe you want to file this away until you're a bit older if you think they might bother you now. The history-mystery mix is very well done.

Debi said...

Jean--
Thanks for the recommendation!

--Annie

Unknown said...

it was great! the dialogue was pretty modern for the time, but otherwise everything was great and i couldn't put it down!
The book assassin starts of in the journal of a young woman and lady in waiting to Queen Elizibeth. After her mother’s poisoning, she is taken under the wing of the Her majesty, yet on the day of February the fourteenth when she has reached age thirteen, Lady grace must go to a saint valentines ball where she will pick her betrothed between three men. Sir Charles, a pudgy and old man with a heart the size of the moon, and another poor and sheepish Lord Robert who is very charming and sweet. The last suitor is named Sir Gerald, a forceful and quite conceited young man. Even his servant fear him! There was obvious rivalry between the suitors, and Lady grace would never have guessed what was to come. The next day, Sir Gerald is found dead with a dagger in his back, and the blame to Lord Robert, Grace’s newly betrothed.
Throughout the rest of the book. We find ourselves following the life of Lady Grace Cavendish’s life as she tries to unravel an endless mystery and put order back in the court of Queen Elizabeth.