Sir Robert Carey took up his northern post as Warden of the West March in order to escape the complications of creditors and court life. Trouble, however, is where the dashing Carey, possibly a cousin of the Queen, finds it. One black night in 1592, Carey is on night patrol along the unsettled border anchored by the garrison in Carlisle. It's a disaster. First, there's the fugitive he has to hand over to the warring Scots. Next come Wee Colin Elliot's sheep stealers. And then a gun explodes and takes off the hand of one of Carey's men. Back in Carlisle, Carey soon learns more faulty guns lie in the armoury in place of the sound weapons shipped in from Newcastle only last week. When these explosive deathtraps are stolen, he sets off in pursuit of both batches of guns--and the thieves. The search ends in Dumfries where King James VI of Scotland--potentially King James I of England when his cousin Elizabeth dies--and his raucous court have assembled. James is as dissolute as ever, lovely Lady Elizabeth Widdrington, Carey's true love, is still shackled to her husband, and seductive Signora Bonnetti takes a serious interest in Carey and in the missing guns. Will the frustrated courtier be gallant enough to flirt with the Signora--and with treason?... As wild as the American West, P.F. Chisholm's witty historical detections are also elegantly crafted and historically accurate as they reimagine the life of a real Elizabethan gunslinger. Her other Carey novels are A Plague of Angels (Introduction by Diana Gabaldon), A Famine of Horses (Introduction by Sharon Kay Penman), A Season of Knives (Introduction by Dana Stabenow). The author is at work on a fifth Sir Robert Carey.
Sir Robert Carey's adventures in the late Sixteenth Century are set in the reign of Elizabeth I. Characters are well developed. They have a jolly time. Guns disappear and reappear. The guns work and do not work. But alls well that ends well. I did need to gather a glossary of Elizabethan fashion terms to fully understand all the nuances of clothing going on and coming off. That internet exercise only added to the fun.
An Elizabethan Courtier among the wild Borderers
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
Sir Robert Carey is the perfect swashbuckler - with empty pockets and enough craft to be more than cardboard. Even years at Elizabeth's court have not prepared him for the treachery and double dealing on the English/Scottish Borders. A marvellous chase after stolen guns and more involvement with his strait laced, married love season a plot filled with the sights, sounds and smells of the 16th Century. Let down a little by the poor binding of this edition, as pages fall out after a couple of readings.
Humor, romance and history blend well in this series
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
I have now read all three of P.F. Chisholm's novels chronicling the adventures of Sir Robert Carey, "the Elizabethan detective" and I await with the next installment with anticipation. Based on a real historical figure in the 16th century, Sir Robert Cary is part Cary Grant, part Harrison Ford, a charming courtier who, despite being a cousin of Queen Elizabeth, has trouble staying out of debt and on the right side of the law. All three books in the series are highly readable and recommended for fans of historical fiction, as well as anyone interested in the Anglo-Scottish border "troubles" of the 16th century.
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