Thursday, 3 November 2022

✧ Book Review ✧ Squire’s Hazard (The Fifth Meonbridge Chronicle) by Carolyn Hughes #Medieval #HistoricalFiction #BookReview @writingcalliope @cathiedunn


Squire’s Hazard
By Carolyn Hughes


How do you overcome the loathing, lust and bitterness threatening you and your family’s honour?

It’s 1363, and in Steyning Castle, Sussex, Dickon de Bohun is enjoying life as a squire in the household of Earl Raoul de Fougère. Or he would be, if it weren’t for Edwin de Courtenay, who’s making his life a misery with his bullying, threatening to expose the truth about Dickon’s birth.

At home in Meonbridge for Christmas, Dickon notices how grown-up his childhood playmate, Libby Fletcher, has become since he last saw her and feels the stirrings of desire. Libby, seeing how different he is too, falls instantly in love. But as a servant to Dickon’s grandmother, Lady Margaret de Bohun, she could never be his wife.

Margery Tyler, Libby’s aunt, meeting her niece by chance, learns of her passion for young Dickon. Their conversation rekindles Margery’s long-held rancour against the de Bohuns, whom she blames for all the ills that befell her family, including her own servitude. For years she’s hidden her hunger for retribution, but she can no longer keep her hostility in check.

As the future Lord of Meonbridge, Dickon knows he must rise above de Courtenay’s loathing and intimidation, and get the better of him. And, surely, he must master his lust for Libby, so his own mother’s shocking history is not repeated? Of Margery’s bitterness, however, he has yet to learn…

Beset by the hazards these powerful and dangerous emotions bring, can young Dickon summon up the courage and resolve to overcome them?

Secrets, hatred and betrayal, but also love and courage – Squire’s Hazard, the fifth MEONBRIDGE CHRONICLE.



✧ Review ✧

This novel is the kind of book that once started is near on impossible to turn away from. It throws the reader right into the middle of the life of  Dickon de Bohun, who, due to merciless bulling, finds himself unjustly abused by Earl Raoul de Fougère. And yet, he dares not stand up for himself and tell the Earl of the relentless torment he is under. It is no surprise that Dickon's returns to his family home with a downhearted spirit. From there on in the adventure begins, and once begun I was hooked.

The author really knows her stuff and has depicted the historical setting with a flawless accuracy and an understanding of how to interrupt that history and create a story around it. I thought the historical backdrop and the characters were wonderfully depicted, and both came across as very real in the telling.

I had not read the first four books in this series, but that did not stop me from enjoying this book immensely and at no time did I feel lost or confused by what was happening. I will certainly be putting the other books onto my to-read list.


✧ Purchase Links ✧

Amazon

This title is on #KindleUnlimited. 



Carolyn Hughes




CAROLYN HUGHES has lived much of her life in Hampshire. With a first degree in Classics and English, she started working life as a computer programmer, then a very new profession. But it was technical authoring that later proved her vocation, as she wrote and edited material, some fascinating, some dull, for an array of different clients, including banks, an international hotel group and medical instruments manufacturers.


Having written creatively for most of her adult life, it was not until her children flew the nest several years ago that writing historical fiction took centre stage, alongside gaining a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Portsmouth University and a PhD from the University of Southampton.


Squire’s Hazard is the fifth MEONBRIDGE CHRONICLE, and more stories about the folk of Meonbridge will follow.


You can connect with Carolyn through her website www.carolynhughesauthor.com and on social media.


Social Media Links:

Website ✧ Twitter ✧ Facebook ✧ BookBub ✧ Amazon Author Page UK ✧ Goodreads


Tour Schedule






Wednesday, 2 November 2022

✧ Book Spotlight ✧ Skull’s Vengeance (Series: Curse of Clansmen and Kings, Book 4) by Linnea Tanner #AncientRome #AncientBritannia #BlogTour @linneatanner @maryanneyarde

 



Skull’s Vengeance
(Series: Curse of Clansmen and Kings, Book 4)
By Linnea Tanner

A Celtic warrior queen must do the impossible—defeat her sorcerer half-brother and claim the throne. But to do so, she must learn how to strike vengeance from her father’s skull.

AS FORETOLD BY HER FATHER in a vision, Catrin has become a battle-hardened warrior after her trials in the Roman legion and gladiatorial games. She must return to Britannia and pull the cursed dagger out of the serpent's stone to fulfill her destiny. Only then can she unleash the vengeance from the ancient druids to destroy her evil half-brother, the powerful sorcerer, King Marrock. Always two steps ahead and seemingly unstoppable, Marrock can summon destructive natural forces to crush any rival trying to stop him and has charged his deadliest assassin to bring back Catrin's head.

To have the slightest chance of beating Marrock, Catrin must forge alliances with former enemies, but she needs someone she can trust. Her only option is to seek military aid from Marcellus—her secret Roman husband. They rekindle their burning passion, but he is playing a deadly game in the political firestorm of the Julio-Claudian dynasty to support Catrin's cause.
 
Ultimately, in order to defeat Marrock, Catrin must align herself with a dark druidess and learn how to summon forces from skulls to exact vengeance. But can she and Marcellus outmaneuver political enemies from Rome and Britannia in their quest to vanquish Marrock?


Trigger warnings:
Sex, Slave trafficking and abuse, Violence, Childbirth


✧ Purchase Links ✧


✧ Series Links ✧ 


Linnea Tanner


Award-winning author, Linnea Tanner, weaves Celtic tales of love, magical adventure, and political intrigue in Ancient Rome and Britannia. Since childhood, she has passionately read about ancient civilizations and mythology. Of particular interest are the enigmatic Celts, who were reputed as fierce warriors and mystical druids.

Linnea has extensively researched ancient and medieval history, mythology, and archaeology and has traveled to sites described within each of her books in the Curse of Clansmen and Kings series. Books released in her series include Apollo’s Raven (Book 1), Dagger’s Destiny (Book 2), Amulet’s Rapture (Book 3), and Skull’s Vengeance (Book 4).

A Colorado native, Linnea attended the University of Colorado and earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry. She lives in Fort Collins with her husband and has two children and six grandchildren.

✧ Social Media links ✧ 


Monday, 31 October 2022

✧ Book Excerpt ✧ Floats the Dark Shadow by Yves Fey #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub @YvesFey @cathiedunn

 



Floats the Dark Shadow 
By Yves Fey

Young American painter Theodora Faraday struggles to become an artist in Belle Époque Paris. She’s tasted the champagne of success, illustrating poems for the Revenants, a group of poets led by her adored cousin, Averill. 

When children she knows vanish mysteriously, Theo confronts Inspecteur Michel Devaux who suspects the Revenants are involved. Theo refuses to believe the killer could be a friend—could be the man she loves. Classic detection and occult revelation lead Michel and Theo through the dark underbelly of Paris, from catacombs to asylums, to the obscene ritual of a Black Mass. 

Following the maze of clues they discover the murderer believes he is the reincarnation of the most evil serial killer in the history of France—Gilles de Rais. Once Joan of Arc’s lieutenant, after her death he plunged into an orgy of evil. The Church burned him at the stake for heresy, sorcery, and the depraved murder of hundreds of peasant children. 

Whether deranged mind or demonic passion incite him, the killer must be found before he strikes again.

 
✧ Excerpt ✧

Invitation to the Catacombs – Floats the Dark Shadow:
Turning around, Theo found Averill still leaning in her open doorway, artfully insouciant, a wicked little smile hovering about the corners of his lips. “I have an invitation for you.”
“An invitation?” she prompted.
He sauntered over. “To the Gates of Hell…and beyond.”
A riddle. La Barrière d’Enfer. Theo knew Hell’s Gate was what they called the old southern toll gate out of Paris. And beyond? The guillotine had once stood nearby, but no longer. Then, beneath? “The catacombs.” 
“Exactement.”
Theo smiled, feeling a shiver race along her spine—apprehension, but anticipation too. Wandering through a labyrinth of ancient bones wasn’t her first choice for an evening out in Paris, yet Averill made the darkness alluring. Life was more vivid when contrasted with death. Theo had been promising to go to the catacombs ever since Averill said he was writing a poem about them. To illustrate it she would need to see the beauty in their desolation, as he did.
“Casimir is playing his violin in a midnight concert tomorrow—at midnight on April 1st. We are all invited.” 
Casimir Estarlian, baron de la Veillée sur Oise, was Averill’s oldest and closest friend among the Revenants, the group of poets—and one California artist—who’d joined together last year after the performance of Oscar Wilde’s Salomé. Their magazine, Le Revenant, had created quite a stir in the literary world. “A revenant is a ghost that is not only visible but tactile,” Averill had explained to her that night. “Sometimes even a corpse risen from the grave. A ghost that feeds upon emotion. Upon desire.” Averill had written four poems, all highly praised. Theo had illustrated them for him in the intricately twisted style he favored. Those illustrations had won her praise as well.
“A midnight concert in the catacombs?” She tilted her head, considering. “How can I resist?” 
Averill smiled with such boyish delight that this time her answering smile was unforced. He had challenged her. She had accepted. It would be an adventure, and however forbidding the territory, she would be with him.
“It will be unique.” He looked at her intently, frowning slightly now.
“What?” 
Reaching out, Averill smoothed back a strand of wet hair sticking to her cheek. Then he broke off a cherry blossom from the branch she’d put inside her jacket and tucked it behind her ear. He nodded toward the easel. “You should do a self-portrait—The Bedraggled Amazon.”
Theo sputtered with laughter, amused and embarrassed. The Revenants had dubbed her their Amazone blonde. She was skilled with horses and weapons. Her nickname was masculine, and she often wore trousers instead of skirts. That choice was daring. Illegal. They applauded her for it, their bold American. But sometimes she felt she was permitted her brashness because she was from California, a name they pronounced with the same exotic savor as Trinidad or Madagascar. She was something not quite tame. At times, Theo felt more like a mascot than a person. But never with Averill. “Beware the bedraggled Amazon doesn’t skewer you for the insult.”
“The Amazon is far too merciful to inflict pain.” Even in shadow, his blue eyes had a luminous glow she knew her own did not possess. “Theo,” he said hesitantly, “I must apologize. I promised to pose.”
“Yes?”
“There were arguments at home…exams for which to study….”
“Or not?” Theo hated the acid in her tone.
“Or not.” Averill shrugged elaborately but did not look away. “Sometimes I am tempted to fail again just to aggravate my father.”
Theo did not look away either, though she was sorry for her cut. “But you are succeeding. For yourself.”
“Yes. The new school of psychology fascinates me—almost as much as a new poem.” He smiled ironically. “I was distracted this past week, but that is not why I avoided posing.”
“Then why?”
He hesitated. “I think I fear what you will see if you paint me.”


✧ Purchase Link ✧




Yves Fey has MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Oregon, and a BA in Pictorial Arts from UCLA. Yves began drawing as soon as she could hold a crayon and writing at twelve.  

She’s been a tie dye artist, go-go dancer, creator of ceramic beasties, writing teacher, illustrator, and has won prizes for her chocolate desserts. Her current obsession is creating perfumes inspired by her Parisian characters. 

Yves lives in Albany with her mystery writer husband and their cats, Charlotte and Emily, the Flying Bronte Sisters.
 
 
Social Media Links:
 
Website ✧ Twitter ✧ Facebook ✧ LinkedIn ✧ Instagram: Gayle Feyrer (@yves_fey) • Instagram photos and videos ✧ Pinterest ✧ Amazon Author Page  ✧ Goodreads





Tuesday, 25 October 2022

✧ Book Excerpt ✧ Island of Dreams by Harry Duffin #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @duffin26 @cathiedunn

 



Island of Dreams
By Harry Duffin

Publication Date: December 2022
Publisher: Cumulus Publishing
Page Length:  420
Genre: Historical Family Saga

In May 1939, when Professor Carl Mueller, his wife, Esther, and their three children flee Nazi Germany, and find refuge on the paradise island of Cuba, they are all full of hopes and dreams for a safe and happy future.  

But those dreams are shattered when Carl and Esther are confronted by a ghost from their past, and old betrayals return to haunt them. 

The turbulent years of political corruption leading to Batista’s dictatorship, forces the older children to take very different paths to pursue their own dangerous dreams. 

And - among the chaos and the conflict that finally leads to Castro’s revolution and victory in 1959, an unlikely love begins to grow - a love that threatens the whole family. 

Having escaped a war-torn Europe, their Island of Dreams is to tear them apart forever.

Excerpt

Anna's initial excitement had long since turned to frustration. The carnival had continued unabated all weekend, and she longed to be part of this fascinating, vibrant new world, tantalizingly just out of reach. The colours, music and brightness of light lifted her spirits in a way she had never felt in the dark, fear-ridden streets of her homeland.
   While the bustling horde of revellers surrounding the boat and on the shore became more vocal and excitable, the mood of the waiting passengers aboard grew increasingly sombre.
   On Monday afternoon as groups of passengers huddled conspiratorially, spreading rumours and speculation like wildfire, Anna leant on the stern rail, watching the traders’ tireless efforts to sell just one more coconut, hand of bananas, or the red-green mango fruit that Anna had yet to taste.
   Suddenly a woman behind her screamed.  Anna heard a terrifying cry like that of a wounded beast. She half turned, but felt a blow which pushed her onto her knees. 
   A middle-aged man scrambled up onto the rail beside her, blood dripping from both his wrists. 
   ‘They won’t get me! I’ll die first!’ he screamed. Before anyone could move, the man leapt from the rail and, cart-wheeling over and over, plunged into the dark green water beneath the towering stern.
   Anna struggled up, shocked and alarmed. A crewman appeared beside her, throwing off his jacket. Mounting the rail, he dove expertly into the water far below. Passengers crushed to the rail to watch the drama, crying out and weeping in panic and fear. 
   As the man in the water screamed and tore at his bleeding wrists, the crewman locked a burly arm around him and struck out for a police launch racing towards the scene. Still screaming his defiance, the man was hauled aboard the launch, which turned and sped away towards the quay.  
   Anna looked down at her dress. The white lace was spattered with bright crimson blood.

In the family cabin, Esther cried out, terrified. 'It’s an omen! It's an omen! Nanny, burn the dress immediately!’  
   As Nanny Price helped the distraught young girl out of the blood-smeared dress, Esther sank into a tragic posture on the chaise longue and screamed at Carl, 'Do something! Do something! Before we are all killed!’
  After dinner the head of the passengers’ committee discreetly invited Carl to join their suicide patrol to help the local police watch the ship overnight. Carl declined. With Esther’s rising panic he felt he was on a suicide patrol of his own.
 He knew he had to do something. Something that his wife had forbidden him to do. He would do and face the consequences afterwards. 



Harry Duffin


Harry Duffin is an award-winning British screenwriter, who was on the first writing team of the BBC’s ‘Eastenders’ and won the Writers’ Guild Award for Best TV serial for ‘Coronation Street’. 

He was Head of Development at Cloud 9 Screen Entertainment Group, producing seven major television series, including ‘Swiss Family Robinson’ starring Richard ‘John Boy’ Thomas, and ‘Twist in the Tale’, featuring William Shatner. 

He was the co-creator of the UK Channel Five teen-cult drama series ‘The Tribe’, which ran for five series. 

He has written three novels, Chicago May, Birth of the Mall Rats [an intro to the TV series ‘The Tribe’], and Island of Dreams, which will be published in December 2022.

Chicago May is the first book of a two-part series: www.chicagomay.com
  

Social Media Links:
Website ✧ Twitter ✧ Facebook ✧ LinkedIn ✧ Instagram ✧ BookBub ✧  Amazon Author Page ✧  Goodreads


Tour Schedule







Monday, 17 October 2022

✧ Book Review ✧ The Godmother’s Secret by Elizabeth St.John #HistoricalFiction #WarOfTheRoses #BookReview @ElizStJohn @cathiedunn

 

The Godmother’s Secret
By Elizabeth St.John

What if you knew what happened to the Princes in the Tower. Would you tell? Or would you forever keep the secret?

November, 1470: Westminster Abbey. 

Lady Elysabeth Scrope faces a perilous royal duty when ordered into sanctuary with Elizabeth Woodville–witness the birth of Edward IV’s Yorkist son. Margaret Beaufort, Elysabeth’s sister, is desperately seeking a pardon for her exiled son Henry Tudor. Strategically, she coerces Lancastrian Elysabeth to be appointed godmother to Prince Edward, embedding her in the heart of the Plantagenets and uniting them in a destiny of impossible choices and heartbreaking conflict.

Bound by blood and torn by honour, when the king dies and Elysabeth delivers her young godson into the Tower of London to prepare for his coronation, she is engulfed in political turmoil. Within months, the prince and his brother have disappeared, Richard III is declared king, and Margaret conspires with Henry Tudor to invade England and claim the throne. Desperate to protect her godson, Elysabeth battles the intrigue, betrayal and power of the last medieval court, defying her husband and her sister under her godmother’s sacred oath to keep Prince Edward safe.

Were the princes murdered by their uncle, Richard III? Was the rebel Duke of Buckingham to blame? Or did Margaret Beaufort mastermind their disappearance to usher in the Tudor dynasty? Of anyone at the royal court, Elysabeth has the most to lose–and the most to gain–by keeping secret the fate of the Princes in the Tower.     

Inspired by England’s most enduring historical mystery, Elizabeth St.John, best-selling author of The Lydiard Chronicles, blends her own family history with known facts and centuries of speculation to create an intriguing alternative story illuminating the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower. 

✧ Review ✧

Elizabeth St.John has really captured the attention of her readers with The Godmother's Secret. Told in the first person we, the reader, are taken on a very personal and at times precarious journey starting with the birth of Edward V and ending with his uncle's death at the Battle of Bosworth. Through the eyes of Lady Elysabeth Scrope, the rather reluctant godmother of Edward, we experience it all.


I thought the author had drawn a very vivid setting, and she seems to have a keen sense of the history as well as the scandals of this era. The fate of the two young princes in the Tower will probably never be known for certain, but I think the author has given her readers a plausible explanation which ties in with the history that would come after.


There are several characters, besides Elysabeth, that really intrigued me and caught my attention. I came away from this book with mixed feelings about Richard III. I know his reputation has had somewhat of a makeover in the last decade or so, but there can be no doubt about his ambition - he may or may not have killed his nephews, but he certainly had no qualms about executing men he saw as rivals, and yet there is a softer side to him, he is a loving husband and devoted father, but then again so was Edward I! Those Plantagenets were a strange lot.


Lady Margaret Beaufort really made my blood boil in this story. Her ambitions are well documented in history, but in this book, she truly is a horrible narcissist, whose every action is calculated. I could not decide if Margaret was truly longing to see her son, or was longing to see him sitting on the throne. There is a very thin thread between a mother's love and a mother's ambition in this book. Or perhaps she was just a pure Lancastrian and would do anything in her power to rid the kingdom of the Yorkist rules.


The prince's plight really pulled at my heartstrings and it seemed that they never really stood a chance as the people around them begin to betray them. I thought the boys were portrayed with a great deal of compassion and they were just two very innocent children who were caught up in this ever-changing game of thrones.


There is nothing about this story that I did not like. It is one of those books that I will certainly be reading again, and it would make a brilliant TV series. Move other Philippa Gregory, it is Elizabeth St.John's time to shine. I will certainly be on the lookout for more books from this author. 


✧ Purchase Links ✧

Amazon

This title is on #KindleUnlimited. 


Elizabeth St.John



Elizabeth St.John spends her time between California, England, and the past. An acclaimed author, historian, and genealogist, she has tracked down family papers and residences from Lydiard Park and Nottingham Castle to Richmond Palace and the Tower of London to inspire her novels. Although the family sold a few country homes along the way (it's hard to keep a good castle going these days), Elizabeth's family still occupy them— in the form of portraits, memoirs, and gardens that carry their legacy. And the occasional ghost. But that's a different story.


Having spent a significant part of her life with her seventeenth-century family while writing The Lydiard Chronicles trilogy and Counterpoint series, Elizabeth St.John is now discovering new family stories with her fifteenth-century namesake Elysabeth St.John Scrope, and her half-sister, Margaret Beaufort.


Social Media Links:

Website ✧ Twitter ✧ Facebook ✧ LinedIn ✧ Instagram ✧ Book Bub ✧ Amazon Author Page ✧ Goodreads 


Tour Schedule





Thursday, 13 October 2022

✧ Book excerpt ✧ The Conjuror’s Apprentice (The Tudor Rose, Book 1) by G.J. Williams #BlogTour #HistoricalFiction @GJWilliams92 @maryanneyarde


The Conjuror’s Apprentice 
(The Tudor Rose, Book 1)
By  G.J. Williams

Publication Date: October 6th 2022
Publisher: RedDoor Press
Page Length: 320 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

Born with the ability to hear thoughts and feelings when there is no sound, Margaretta Morgan’s strange gift sees her apprenticed to Doctor John Dee, mathematician, astronomer, and alchemist. Using her secret link with the hidden side and her master’s brilliance, Margaretta faces her first murder mystery. Margaretta and Dee must uncover the evil bound to unravel the court of Bloody Mary. 

The year is 1555. This is a time ruled by fear. What secrets await to be pulled from the water?

The Conjuror’s Apprentice takes real people and true events in 1555, into which G J Williams weaves a tale of murder and intrigue. Appealing to readers of crime and well researched historical fiction alike, this is the first in a series which will follow the life, times, plots and murders of the Tudor Court.

Trigger warnings:
Descriptions of bodies and the injuries that brought about their death. 
Threat of torture; description of man who has been tortured.

Excerpt

John Dee stared at the letter, then at Cecil. ‘The letter must have been penned by someone who has sight of this household – and the same person who planted the letter on Jonas.’

The master of the house nodded and put his head in his hands, propelling Mildred to cross the room and put her hand on his shoulder. He glanced up and patted her fingers. ‘Are you

quite sure what you read, my dear?’

‘Yes. You heard the words yourself. The letter is to someone who wants testimony of your movements. The scrivener speaks of your visits to Lady Elizabeth. Each one is listed. They even know you are due to visit her again this week.’ Her lips pinched together in anxiety. ‘They state that you hide a book of Elizabeth’s treachery to protect her.’ Mildred looked at John Dee. ‘Why would they make up such stories of us?’

But next to her, Cecil did not move. He kept staring at the wood of his desk, his brow crinkled in thought. A slight flush spread across his cheeks.

Margaretta shifted in her seat, the feelings rising inside her. Dread. Something you’ve done. A secret. You imagine being arrested. You are hiding something. She leaned forward, touched John Dee’s sleeve, and whispered ‘Mae e’n cuddio rhywbeth.’ He hides something.

Cecil’s eyes darted to her. ‘I do not speak my forefathers’ tongue with ease. What did you say?’

Thank the Lord, John Dee stepped in. ‘She says she must away to the kitchen and her chores soon.’ He leaned forward and dropped his voice to a cajoling purr. ‘Is there anything you have secreted, my friend? Better we know.’

Cecil sat up straight and cleared his throat. His wife’s fingers tightened on his shoulder as she looked down, beginning to frown. Her husband looked at the window as if searching for the right words. ‘I…I…hold a book belonging to the Lady Elizabeth. Nothing treasonous. Just her thoughts.’ He swallowed and looked to Dee, a faint beseeching in his eyes.

The room was silent.

Panic. Confusion. It is you, Lady Mildred. Anger.

John Dee leaned forward again, keeping the low, calm voice. ‘Where is this book?’

‘Mildred’s library. Well hidden among the religious texts.’ At this, Lady Cecil gave a short, sharp cry and snatched her hand away from her husband. She walked to the window and put her hands on the glass. They could see her kirtle move with her fearful breathing. Then she turned and faced him, her face pale and fixed in fury. ‘You brought secrets here and put us all

in danger? Have your senses left you, husband?’ Her voice was slow and cold.

In an instant he was on his feet, rebutting her challenge with indignation. ‘No, Mildred. I was showing loyalty to a fragile girl wracked with fears. She is under constant suspicion.

So, when she was summoned to court to attend her sister’s birthing, she dared not take it with her, nor leave it behind. I am the only one she trusts. What could I do? Abandon her?’

‘And what is in this book, William?’ asked Dee.

‘Her thoughts on regency. She speaks of a fair rule; of religious tolerance rather than the burning we live with today; of making this land great again and not a puppet of Spain.’

Cecil dropped his head forward and his voice fell to a murmur. ‘She speaks of a golden age in which men thrive, not fear life.’

Dee sighed. ‘So, she speaks of being queen.’ He waited until Cecil nodded. ‘So, with Mary expecting her own son to succeed her, it is a tome of treason.’ He gave a small laugh. ‘Making my conjuring look pale in comparison.’

Cecil bristled. ‘No. It is a volume of hope. The only treason lies with those who would put a Spanish prince as our ruler.’

He gave a low growl. ‘For the love of God, they circle court like hawks awaiting the death of Mary and her babe so they can grasp power while England mourns.’

John Dee opened his palms in question. ‘Mary herself made Philip King of England. Not a prince. Not her consort. A king.’

Cecil wheeled round. ‘Elizabeth is the rightful heir to the throne. Not a Spanish puppet of the Catholic Pope. A woman of the true faith…Protestantism.’

‘So, if Elizabeth aspires to be queen, she is the single threat to the supporters of Philip.’ John Dee pointed an accusing finger. ‘And that book sets out her ambition.’ He paused. ‘That book will take her to the Tower and her death for treason… and someone in your household knows of it. They also know your involvement.’

From the window, Lady Cecil spoke. ‘And her treasonous book is in this house. And somebody knows it.’ She turned to look through the glass onto the bustling street below. ‘May God save us.’


G.J. Williams


After a career as a business psychologist for city firms, G.J. Williams has returned to her first passion – writing tales of murder, mystery and intrigue. Her psychology background melded with a love of medieval history, draws her to the twists and turns of the human mind, subconscious powers and the dark-side of people who want too much. 

She lives between Somerset and London in the UK and is regularly found writing on a train next to a grumpy cat and a bucket of tea.

Social Media Links:
Twitter ✧ Instagram - @GJWilliams92







✧ Book Review ✧ The Midnight Carousel (A Forest Falls Frolic) by Hanna Park

    Belle Stanhope had plans. Good plans. Practical plans. None of them involved Hudson Carver. The florist with the crooked smile had becom...