- Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Minotaur Books (Oct 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312993498
- ISBN-13: 978-0312993498
- Product Dimensions: 16.8 x 10.7 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 587,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The Thorn Maze continues Karen Harper's saga of Queen Elizabeth the First as a sleuth. This time someone is killing members of her court and leaving the corpses in the mazes that feature as part of the royal gardens. There are plenty of suspects all of whom are in the higher circles of the Quuen's court; is it the murderous Lennoxes who cause Bess all manner of troubles with their machinations with the Scottish queen, or could her advisor William Cecil know more about the murders than he lets on?
If you enjoyed earlier books such as the Poyson Garden and the Queen's Cure then you will probably find that this is more of the same although it lacks the fizz of the earlier titles and acts as no more than a peep into our favourite characters.
The joy as always of this series are the periphery characters who form part of the Queen's Privy Plot council. We hear more about William Cecil's homelife in particular his early years and his disatisfied wife, which is a welcome insight into his character. Even Jenks the loyal bodyguard gets a beefier role this time around as he begins to court Meg the Queen's herbalist and sometime decoy. My only gripe is that there isn't much of Ned Topside, the true object of Meg's affection, a little more of his reactions to Jenks wooing Meg would have added some welcome spice.
Queen Bess is as ever a likeable figure struggling to keep her court safe from political wrangles with the Scots as well as tracking down a killer. The subplot dealing with Kat's dementia is tactuflly handled and moving, but the mystery itself seems to take a backseat to character development which is a pity. The denoument of the real killer after pages of redherrings is a big let down and comes across as tacked on.
I await eagerly the release of the next installment 'Queen's Christmas' and hope that that the mystery is sufficiently juicy as well as a more in depth look at the historical events of the time. For those like me who can't wait for the next book I would suggest The Ursula Blanchard mysteries by Fiona Buckley where the sleuth is a lady of Elizabeth's court.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
THE 5TH BOOK IN KAREN HARPER'S SERIES OF ELIZABETH 1 MYSTERIES FOLLOWS ON NICELY FROM The Queene's Cure (Elizabeth I Mysteries). WHAT I LIKE ABOUT HARPER'S BOOKS ARE THAT SHE GIVE DETAILS OF THE EARLIER EVENTS IN ELIZABETH'S LIFE, A MAP OF THE AREA SHE IS WRITING ABOUT AND A FAMILY TREE RELATING TO THE HISTORICAL CHARACTERS INVOLVED.
HARPER'S POTRAYAL OF ELIZABETH SHOWS HER FOIBLES I.E. HER VAINESS, HER INABILITY TO SUFFER FOOLS GLADLY BUT SHE ALSO SHOWS HER TO BE HIGHLY INTELLIGENT AND COMPASSIONATE TO OTHERS PLIGHTS, SHE IS ALSO LOYAL TO THE ONES CLOSEST TO HER. HER KINGDOM IS HER CHILDREN AND LIKE A LION PROTECTING A CUB SHE WILL FIGHT ANY FOE TO PROTECT HER REALM.
ALONG WITH HER PRIVY PLOT COUNCIL WHICH INVOLVES BOTH HISTORICAL AND FICTIONAL CHARACTERS SHE IS ONCE AGAIN PLUNGED INTO A FIGHT FOR HER LIFE. COURTIERS ARE BEING KILLED IN THE QUEEN'S GARDEN MAZES AND SO BEGINS THE ADVENTURE. THERE ARE AS MANY TWISTS AND TURNS AS A LABYRINTH. THIS BOOK IS A FAST PACED, AUTHENTICALLY DETAILED MYSTERY. IT IS A WONDERFUL WEB OF DRAMA AND DECEIT.
THE PLAGUE IS ALSO BACK, PEOPLE ARE PANICKING EVEN THE QUEEN BECOMES SCARED ABOUT THE KILLINGS AND BEGINS TO FEAR THAT IT IS ONE OF HER FRIENDS OR COURTIERS WHO IS THE KILLER. SHE INCLUDES IN THIS HER COUSIN (AND ENEMY) MARGARET STEWART AND HER SON HENRY STEWART (LORD DARNLEY). ALL IS REVEALED AS THE MYSTERY HURTLES TO A BREATHE-TAKING FINALE.
SO WITH THAT AS I CATCH MY BREATHE I WILL BEGIN HARPER'S NEXT BOOK IN THE SERIES The Queene's Christmas: An Elizabeth I Mystery (Elizabeth I Mysteries).
HARPER'S POTRAYAL OF ELIZABETH SHOWS HER FOIBLES I.E. HER VAINESS, HER INABILITY TO SUFFER FOOLS GLADLY BUT SHE ALSO SHOWS HER TO BE HIGHLY INTELLIGENT AND COMPASSIONATE TO OTHERS PLIGHTS, SHE IS ALSO LOYAL TO THE ONES CLOSEST TO HER. HER KINGDOM IS HER CHILDREN AND LIKE A LION PROTECTING A CUB SHE WILL FIGHT ANY FOE TO PROTECT HER REALM.
ALONG WITH HER PRIVY PLOT COUNCIL WHICH INVOLVES BOTH HISTORICAL AND FICTIONAL CHARACTERS SHE IS ONCE AGAIN PLUNGED INTO A FIGHT FOR HER LIFE. COURTIERS ARE BEING KILLED IN THE QUEEN'S GARDEN MAZES AND SO BEGINS THE ADVENTURE. THERE ARE AS MANY TWISTS AND TURNS AS A LABYRINTH. THIS BOOK IS A FAST PACED, AUTHENTICALLY DETAILED MYSTERY. IT IS A WONDERFUL WEB OF DRAMA AND DECEIT.
THE PLAGUE IS ALSO BACK, PEOPLE ARE PANICKING EVEN THE QUEEN BECOMES SCARED ABOUT THE KILLINGS AND BEGINS TO FEAR THAT IT IS ONE OF HER FRIENDS OR COURTIERS WHO IS THE KILLER. SHE INCLUDES IN THIS HER COUSIN (AND ENEMY) MARGARET STEWART AND HER SON HENRY STEWART (LORD DARNLEY). ALL IS REVEALED AS THE MYSTERY HURTLES TO A BREATHE-TAKING FINALE.
SO WITH THAT AS I CATCH MY BREATHE I WILL BEGIN HARPER'S NEXT BOOK IN THE SERIES The Queene's Christmas: An Elizabeth I Mystery (Elizabeth I Mysteries).
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
a good read
24 Mar 2003
Format:Hardcover
Forget the improbability of Elizabeth I and William Cecil (Elizabeth's chief advisor) actually having the time and inclination to play detective, and surrender yourself to enjoying a historical mystery novel is packed with intrigue, suspense and wonderful historical detail, for "The Thorne Maze" is definitely not a treat to be missed!
It's the summer of 1564, and in order to escape the threat of the plague, Elizabeth has moved her court (which currently also includes Templar Sutton, a famed lawyer, and his half-Italian wife, Bettina; Mary Sidney, the Countess of Pembrooke and the queen's closest friend and Robert Dudley, a gentleman that Elizabeth is drawn to even if she doesn't totally trust him) to Hampton. Of course there a variety of entertainments to amuse and pass the time, but when Elizabeth uses the cover of a masque to slip out in order to meet Dudley, little does she expect to be attacked either. Fortunately, the arrival of Bettina Sutton on the scene stops the attacker from completing his attack. Elizabeth quickly summons her Privy Plot Council in order to ferret out the would-be murderer. But are they looking for a 'plain' murderer who had mistaken the queen for someone else, or are they in the middle of yet another treasonous plot? Before long, Elizabeth and investigators are in the middle of another perplexing mystery, and one that yields some unexpected suspects...
What made this novel so very enjoyable for me to read was the manner in which the authour managed to keep the level of suspense relatively high. The pacing was truly brilliant. There were enough red herring suspects together with some rather nifty plot twists -- enough anyway to keep to me engrossed. And, best of all, there was also enough historical and biographical detail to make the book interesting and fascinating. All in all, "The Thorne Maze" proved to be a truly worthwhile read. And although I'm not a Tudor fan and that I rather wished that Karen Harper had been a tad more critical of Elizabeth I, I have to admit that "The Thorne Maze" was a truly good mystery novel and that the entire series is worth becoming addicted to.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Elizabethan Mysteries
5 Jan 2004
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Once I discovered these intriguing Elizabethan mysteries by Karen Harper, I couldn't stop reading until I had read all the books of the series. They offer a fascinating glimpse into Queen Elizabeth's character and court life, and are rich enough in detail to read again and again.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Series gets better
18 Aug 2003
Format:Hardcover
The Thorne Maze is the fifth in Karen Harper's Elizabethan mystery series, and one of the best. The series had a rather slow start, with a really interesting concept - the first Queen Elizabeth and a small band of loyal friends solving mysteries - but initially rather forgettable characters. Now the writer has hit her stride and the characters are much more believable and the dialogue both truer and livelier.
With each new book the characters have developed depth and have moved in a natural life progression. The setting is as accurate as it can be 500 years later (and I'm from England, I can spot an American writers' innaccuracies right away). Most of all, it's a tale well told.
I can see the writer's difficulty. She strives to include historical characters, locations, time frames and still come up with a strong and workable plot. To be honest, there are times when the plot is a bit contrived, in the effort to include all the other elements. Personally, I can accept this. I'd rather have the accuracy and the depth of research. And this writer is a great story teller, she is working with a fascinating period in history and she has peopled it with, by now, strong and likeable characters.
This is a good read. I can recommend this book to anyone who likes history and mystery.
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