![]() ![]() James IV of Scotland has been killed and his widow, Margaret, sister to Henry VIII, flees to England, leaving her children behind and her crown under a Council of Regency. The scene is set in 1517, when the English have defeated the Scots at the Battle of Flodden. Roger Shallot is, in the author’s words, “a great teller of tall tales, but he may not be a liar.” Indeed, Shallot is a rogue prone to exaggeration, a bit of a Falstaff turned spy character, and if you can tolerate the many boastful asides where he claims to have inspired Shakespeare and ravished numerous women (including Catherine de Medici), you will be rewarded with a lively story with roots firmly grounded in Doherty’s impressive grasp of history. This is book one in a series of memoirs told by Sir Roger Shallot, a ninety-year-old spy for Cardinal Wolsey during King Henry VIII’s reign. ![]() When the sky is dark and a hunter’s moon hides behind the clouds, Murder sweeps up to this great manor house to kill my sleep and plunder my dreams…” So begins The White Rose Murders by Michael Clynes (Paul Doherty). But if you like your Tudor fare influenced by the most brutal king in British history, Henry VIII, here are some reads that are worth a look. Sansom’s Matthew Shardlake, and Nancy Bilyeau’s Joannah Stafford series, there are surprisingly few historical mysteries set during Henry VIII’s reign as compared to Elizabeth’s. ![]()
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