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Overview
The letter came in secret, with a pearl eardrop from an aunt long thought dead, resurrecting the forbidden past. Banished by her spiteful half sister, Queen Mary, to Hatfield House in the English countryside, twenty-five-year-old Princess Elizabeth cannot refuse the summons. The Boleyns are in grave danger. And Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn, is marked for death by a master poisoner whose reign of terror may have royal sanction.With her few loyal retainers, Elizabeth escapes to Kent. Here, in her ancestral Hever Castle, now held by the Queen's loyalists, Elizabeth seeks to unravel the plot against her. And here, in the embrace of intrigue and betrayal, the princess must find a brilliant, powerfully connected killer--before the killer finds her....
Synopsis
Karen Harper begins her Bess Tudor mystery series with Poyson Garden, a tale set in Elizabethan times of murder most foul. The future queen Elizabeth is in exile from her half sister, Queen Mary. But when someone starts murdering her Boleyn relatives, young princess Bess is on the case! Find out if suspense novelist Beth Amos got caught up in Elizabethan intrigue, with her review of Poyson Garden.
Publishers Weekly
Elizabeth Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, bides her time as her half-sister, Queen Mary I, burns heretics and sickens in the year 1558. Elizabeth's time may be short, however: a murderer, possibly backed by Mary, is poisoning anyone related to the Boleyn family. Elizabeth's cousin, Henry Cary, survives a poisoned arrow attack, but his mother, Mary Boleyn, dies of poison shortly after meeting Elizabeth in secret at a secluded country estate. Closely guarded at Hatfield by Thomas Pope and his wife, Beatrice, Elizabeth nonetheless determines to uncover the mysterious veiled woman behind the poisonings, a task that requires her to dress as a lad and leads to her mother's childhood home at Hever Castle as well as to a moated castle in Leeds. Mary Tudor's England is realistically re-created in this series launch, and Elizabeth's servants prove a lively band. In Elizabeth, Harper has created an inspired if historically unlikely heroine, a young woman with natural curiosity about the mother she barely knew and with the grit to solve the mystery rather than fall victim to it. Suspending disbelief, readers will shiver as Elizabeth walks the corridor toward her mother's girlhood chamber at Hever, sensing a lost connection. The novel's finale, as Elizabeth meets her nemesis, is spoiled only by its lack of credibility--a small stain on an otherwise well-sewn tale. (Feb.)
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Elizabeth Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, bides her time as her half-sister, Queen Mary I, burns heretics and sickens in the year 1558. Elizabeth's time may be short, however: a murderer, possibly backed by Mary, is poisoning anyone related to the Boleyn family. Elizabeth's cousin, Henry Cary, survives a poisoned arrow attack, but his mother, Mary Boleyn, dies of poison shortly after meeting Elizabeth in secret at a secluded country estate. Closely guarded at Hatfield by Thomas Pope and his wife, Beatrice, Elizabeth nonetheless determines to uncover the mysterious veiled woman behind the poisonings, a task that requires her to dress as a lad and leads to her mother's childhood home at Hever Castle as well as to a moated castle in Leeds. Mary Tudor's England is realistically re-created in this series launch, and Elizabeth's servants prove a lively band. In Elizabeth, Harper has created an inspired if historically unlikely heroine, a young woman with natural curiosity about the mother she barely knew and with the grit to solve the mystery rather than fall victim to it. Suspending disbelief, readers will shiver as Elizabeth walks the corridor toward her mother's girlhood chamber at Hever, sensing a lost connection. The novel's finale, as Elizabeth meets her nemesis, is spoiled only by its lack of credibility--a small stain on an otherwise well-sewn tale. (Feb.)Library Journal
Under virtual house arrest at Hatfield during the reign of half-sister Mary, Elizabeth Tudor occasionally escapes her guardians through use of deceit and disguise. After learning of a plot to poison the remaining Boleyns--herself included, of course--she quickly enlists the help of her very own "privy and covert" council: her childhood governess, her groom, a female herbalist, and a talented actor. Together they sleuth, pooling resources, gathering clues, and finally identifying the poisoners. This is the first historicial mystery for Harper, an author of romance, suspense, and historical novels. It is also the first of a new series featuring a very personable young Elizabeth. Lively action and well-tempered prose make it a winner. [Mystery Guild main selection.]Beth Amos
Mystery and history buffs alike will be thrilled with Karen Harper's new historical mystery, The Poyson Garden, which features young Elizabeth Tudor, the future queen of England, as its heroine.
In 16th-century England, as Queen Mary Tudor barely clings to life, her spirited and plucky half sister, Elizabeth, is wondering if she will live long enough to ascend to the throne. Resentful of the fact that Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn, replaced her own mother, Catherine of Aragon, as the wife of King Henry VIII, Mary has banished Elizabeth to the countryside, where she is kept under the watchful eye of Sir Thomas Pope and his wife, Bea. Already wary of the shaky truce between herself and Mary, who has earned the nickname Bloody Mary, Elizabeth becomes even more concerned when she receives a shocking summons to visit her aunt, Mary Boleyn, Lady Stafford. The reason for her shock is twofold: Not only was Mary Boleyn reported to have died years ago, but shortly after Elizabeth meets with her, Mary dies for real, the apparent victim of a conspiracy to eliminate every trace of the Boleyns, even the future queen herself. The murder weapon is poison, and not only are the Boleyns targeted, so are all those who have sworn allegiance to Elizabeth as the future queen. Could Bloody Mary be behind this heinous plot?
Armed with little more than her wits and a few clever disguises, Elizabeth sets out to investigate the few meager clues she's been given. Aiding in her quest is young Meg Milligrew, an herbalist who bears a striking resemblance to the future queen; Elizabeth's loyal bodyguard and footman, Jenks; and Ned Topside, a fast-thinking and talented actor. Together they expose a pack of ruthless killers, discover several more deaths attributable to the mysterious poisoner, and save a large contingent of their fellow countrymen from a diabolical plot for mass murder.
Harper has combined rich period detail with historical fact, spicing it up with a bit of imagination. The end result is a fun and suspenseful tale that offers a peek into one of the most fascinating and turbulent times in history. The religious unrest, political intrigue, and conspiratorial conniving of one of England's bloodiest periods provides an exciting backdrop for The Poyson Garden and offers the promise of a long line of period mysteries to come, all centered around the 45-year reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
--Barnesandnoble.com