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Synopsis
July 1660, Falkland Palace, Fife. After rescuing King James the Sixth from a runaway horse, Tam Elldor finds himself in favour. But as the King's new object of affection. Tam has become the target for jealous courtiers - and their attentions are seriously hampering his investigation into the murder of Margaret Agnew. Why was the Queen's midwife killed - was it a case of mistaken identity, is it related to secrets from James' past and could Tam's good friend Tansy be at risk? Dangerous forces are at work, forces that will lead the King to Gowrie House and to a mystery that remains unsolved...
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
Time-traveler Tam Eildor would like to stay in the shadows of the court of King James VI but it is not to be so. Rescuing the flirtatious and temperamental monarch from a runaway horse only brings him to the king's favour, and to the unwelcome attention of the King's many enemies and consorts. Pretending to be a remote cousin of one of his ancestors Tam has a battle on his hands to stay out of the amorous reach of the King and escape the closer scrutiny of his invented background. It is not a paradox that Tam was once known to the previous generation of the court, but it is knowledge best evaded. His beautiful "cousin" Tansy Scott has her own enemies at court and retains always only a tenuous position as seamstress to Queen Anne, the pregnant and cuckolded wife to the King. King James has his own personal reasons to dislike Tansy, and it has all to do with what knowledge her late grandmother may have passed on to her family.
Tansy's grandmother was a great healer, and one of the parties present at the royal birth of King James. So also was Mistress Margaret Agnew, a midwife still and in current service to the Queen. There was a pact made between the women present at the birth of King James and it has been kept to this day. When threats are made to Tansy's life and Mistress Agnew is killed, Tam finds himself involved in the killer affairs of court in order to protect those he has grown to love.
"The Gowrie Conspiracy" is a light read of court intrigue and historical drama; the main plotline chosen is one of the major conspiracy theories of succession in British royal history. It is pleasant enough to read this story of the petty intrigues and snobberies of the royal court of the day though no real mystery is contained with the major "hook" being revealed to the reader quite early in the piece. The rest is elaboration with tribute being made to the royal pomposity and scandals of the day as they are revealed to Tam, the modern day voyeur, if you like. While this book is part of a series there is little information given to a first time reader as to Tam's true past - who is he, from what time does he originate from and who or what set him on this time-travelling path?
As easy reading, non-demanding fiction "The Gowrie Conspiracy" would appeal to the historical mystery reader who doesn't require the in depth secrecy and plot intricacies of a heavier historical drama.
Tansy's grandmother was a great healer, and one of the parties present at the royal birth of King James. So also was Mistress Margaret Agnew, a midwife still and in current service to the Queen. There was a pact made between the women present at the birth of King James and it has been kept to this day. When threats are made to Tansy's life and Mistress Agnew is killed, Tam finds himself involved in the killer affairs of court in order to protect those he has grown to love.
"The Gowrie Conspiracy" is a light read of court intrigue and historical drama; the main plotline chosen is one of the major conspiracy theories of succession in British royal history. It is pleasant enough to read this story of the petty intrigues and snobberies of the royal court of the day though no real mystery is contained with the major "hook" being revealed to the reader quite early in the piece. The rest is elaboration with tribute being made to the royal pomposity and scandals of the day as they are revealed to Tam, the modern day voyeur, if you like. While this book is part of a series there is little information given to a first time reader as to Tam's true past - who is he, from what time does he originate from and who or what set him on this time-travelling path?
As easy reading, non-demanding fiction "The Gowrie Conspiracy" would appeal to the historical mystery reader who doesn't require the in depth secrecy and plot intricacies of a heavier historical drama.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Documents Alanna Knight as an extraordinary novelist
4 April 2004
Format:Hardcover
The Gowrie Conspiracy is an enthralling, historical murder mystery by Alanna Knight. Set in the court of King James the Sixth during the early 1600s, The Gowrie Conspiracy presents a tangled intrigue of bloodlines, power struggles, petty court clashes, and a terrible hidden secret in King James' past that could jeopardize the entire royal court. A suspenseful tale that keeps the reader guessing within its unbroken ambience, The Gowrie Conspiracy clearly documents Alanna Knight as an extraordinary novelist with an impressive gift for writing historical mystery fiction.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
i wouldn't have reviewed this
10 Feb 2006
Format:Paperback
if the other review hadn't been so glowing.
i ordered this book after reading the first page--i thought any writer who could make me laugh within the first three paragraphs would be worth reading. i was wrong.
some readers may enjoy her style--that's a matter of taste. i found it annoying--choppy, repetitive (although a good editor could have helped there), and very slow to develop. the dialogue is stiff (and i don't mean the dialect--i'm scottish, i've been to scotland, i understand the dialect), the descriptions graceless, and the character development minimal.
if you can get past her style, her explanation of the events is interesting. but it took a lot of effort for me to get past the first quarter of the book.
i ordered this book after reading the first page--i thought any writer who could make me laugh within the first three paragraphs would be worth reading. i was wrong.
some readers may enjoy her style--that's a matter of taste. i found it annoying--choppy, repetitive (although a good editor could have helped there), and very slow to develop. the dialogue is stiff (and i don't mean the dialect--i'm scottish, i've been to scotland, i understand the dialect), the descriptions graceless, and the character development minimal.
if you can get past her style, her explanation of the events is interesting. but it took a lot of effort for me to get past the first quarter of the book.
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