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.
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