347 Pages
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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. In the cruel time of Tudor England, 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?
Wow, what an unexpected treat. I was asked to review this book by the author after a chance meeting at the Crime Cymru festival. I duly undertook to carry this out. However I must confess it was with no great eagerness. "Oh another book set in the Tudor/Elizabeathen period, I thought to myself." Much like sharks and the Nazis on the discovery channel, it seemed to me it had been done to death. The ground had been saturated by Phillipa Gregory, Hilary Mantel, CJ Sansom not to mention Cate Blanchett, Margot Robbie, Glenda Jackson, Bette Davis, Helen Mirren et al. I longed to explore the less trodden paths of history. How wrong I was! This book injected new life into the era for me.
There are several reasons why I particularly enjoyed this book. The motivations and emotions of the characters are well drawn. The driving forces of each person intertwine in a sort of ecology web. Probably more so than most books that I have read. This makes sense when you realise that the author is a doctor of pyschology.
The murder mystery is an enjoyable romp but the wrong un can be spotted very early. The enjoyment though is in seeing how our mis matched heros track him down.
Set in an interesting period when superstition was begining to give way to science. The story blends history with magic. Dr John Dee was indeed a mathmatician, alchemist and scientific advisor. Folk lore/dark arts are explored in the form of Margarreta, a reader of souls, alongside Dee's interest in tarot and crystals. I Loved Margaretta's Welsh background. While reading this I was reminded of the English Rugby Union ex Chairman Dudley Wood's quote on the relationship between Wales and England. "The relationship is based on trust and undertstanding, We dont understand them, and they dont trust us. 😁
Truth can be stranger than fiction especially when you come across Dee's connection to James Bond!
I liked that the author put the thoughts and emotions that Margaretta was reading into italics. It served well to seperate these from the rest of the narrative.
What you can really feel in this and other great books set in different time periods is the absolute immersion (love?) of the author in(for) the era. The scenes are beautifully, and sometimes brutally set with enough specific detail to be fascinating but not so much as to be swamped. (see selected quotes.) This is a hard lesson to learn for most historic era authors. In addition the setting adds to the human story it does not overwhelm it.
Once you have read the book, do yourself a favour and read the historical notes at the end and read the author's blog about the setting for the book.
I could find only one thing that threw me. There is a lot of winking in this book. 😕 I counted 35 winks. Was this practice vastly more widespread back then? This minor concern apart I thought that this was an absolute gem of a book. It rekindled my interest in this era. Amazing to think this is the author's first. I think I will be spending some time in the future with the good Dr and Margaretta.
he had proved his formula and now he would apply it again. She would walk in her master’s shadow, using her gifts to go amongst the people, watching, listening, investigating and feeling their thoughts and fears. As a woman she could be invisible and bring back the snippets, talk and evidence which they would compile into a picture in his office. Her ancient gifts of insight would meld with his brilliance of mind and they would uncover the story behind the murder, reveal the killer and their motive.
He softened his face. ‘We share the same curse, Margaretta. We remind our mothers of our fathers…and so their loss.’
Ydy ch’yn siarad cymraeg?’ Do you speak Welsh? Before he could answer, Goodwife Barker snapped from the end of the table, ‘Do not bring that robber’s tongue into this house.’ She raised a finger and pointed at Margaretta. ‘I have warned you. You live by my rules. Do you hear?’
The only women were the market fishwives, gutting the catch with blades which would slice through steel, their fingers bandaged in bloody rags to cover the cuts and nicks. Today, being Friday, was the busiest of their week. Outside the taverns, pot-men threw buckets of filthy water to slew down the pavement where last night’s drinkers had fallen over and emptied their stomachs. It stank of fish-guts, vomit and old beer. Margaretta covered her nose with a linen and pressed on.
- If You Liked This Then You May Like This...
The Last Tudor by Phillipa GregoryThe Virgin Queen's Daughter by Ella March Chase
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
G.J. Williams is the author of The Conjurer’s Apprentice, the first in the Tudor Rose Murders series. G.J. Williams is a Welsh woman living in Somerset, England. She is a doctor of psychology and ran an international consulting business for 25 years before putting her love of writing to the forefront of life. She lives between Somerset and London and is often found writing on the train next to a grumpy cat and a cup of tea.
Life is always busy. When she is not writing, she is researching, travelling to historic sites or plotting while sailing the blue seas on her beloved boat.
Her dream is to be chosen by readers who love the books of CJ Sansom, SJ Parris and Rory Clements
