Book review - "Demon of the Air" by Simon Levack

I really enjoyed this book.  This is another one that I picked up in hopes of finding another series to follow and I found one.  Levack’s novel Demon of the Air is set in 1517 in Mexico in the Aztecan capital Tenochtitlan, where Emperor Montezuma resides.

In the first chapter, Levack exhibits a dark humor as the main character Yaotl, the Chief Minister’s slave, goes about the ho-hum practice of human sacrifice, with a nonchalance as we would an every day task.  The mystery begins as the sacrifice victim Yaotl and his friend Handy brought for the Chief Minister escapes from their grasp.  They chase him but he utters a strange prophecy before leaping to his death.

First, the Chief Minister wants to know why his sacrifice got away.  Second, he wants to know what the prophecy means.  Third, he wants to know why all the sorcerers in the city have disappeared.

Yaotl has few friends in the city and is estranged from his family, as a result of being dishonorably discharged from being a priest.  He has to forge new alliances and mend bridges to solve the mystery.

Levack introduces each character by their Aztec name but then uses the English translation, such as Curling Mist and Black Feathers. 

The novel is fast paced and keeps the reader’s interest.  I found it easy to follow the story although I am not at all familiar with the Aztec culture.  Levack brings out their culture beautifully and it is very entertaining. I look forward to reading more of his work.

Book review - "The Siren Queen" by Fiona Buckley

After the events of The Fugitive Queen, Ursula Blanchard de la Roche Stannard is still caught up in the conspiracies to put Mary Stuart on the throne of Scotland and eventually that of England as well. In The Siren Queen, Ursula and her current husband are contacted by the duke of Norfolk, wanting to betroth a young man in his employee to Ursula’s daughter Meg, who is not yet fourteen.  Ursula and Hugh decide to see what the duke has to offer. 

Ursula immediately dislikes the young man and plans to depart, but a messenger of the duke is stabbed as he is trying to deliver documents to the north.  Then another young man, a servant, is brutally murdered and hung up on a meat hook.  Like it nor not, Ursula is urged by Elizabeth’s Secretary of State Cecil Williams to find out why the men were killed.  She uncovers coded messages being passed between Norfolk and the conspirators with Mary. 

Thrown into this mix is Ursula’s woman Gladys, who, despite Ursula’s efforts to keep her clean and groomed, still manages to get accused of witchcraft.  Meg, being the sulky teenager, is in love with Edward Dean, the man Norfolk wants to betroth her to. 

As usual, Ursula engages in a lot of spying, eavesdropping and intercepting encoded messages to help Cecil get back in Elizabeth’s good graces.  She even has to speak to the Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley, one of the queen’s favorites.

The ending is a little predictable but it does have some exciting moments.  It isn’t on the level as The Fugitive Queen as intrigue, but The Siren Queen does have more of the whodunit element.

Book review - "The Fugitive Queen" by Fiona Buckley

I found The Fugitive Queen by Fiona Buckley (pen name for Valerie Anand) to be one of her better novels.  This is her seventh in the series featuring Elizabethan sleuth Ursula Faldene Blanchard de la Roche Stannard.  She’s on her third husband and only in her early 30’s. 

In this story, the queen in the title refers to Mary, Queen of Scots, who has made it to England, making her cousin Elizabeth I very uneasy.  Ursula is “asked” by Queen Elizabeth to make a journey to Tyesdale, a parcel of land owned by Robert Dudley.  He is giving it go Ursula’s ward Penelope Mason as a dowry so she can attract a good husband.  Pen is not a looker by any means so finding a male suitor isn’t going to be easy. 

Ursula isn’t fooled since she is aware that the manor is close to Bolton, where Mary is housed.    She is instructed to give a private message to Mary from Elizabeth, but the queen’s man Cecil also wants her to find out if Mary had anything to do with the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley.  As in earlier novels, she knows she’s being tricked once again and has no choice to obey her queen.

This book reads more like an action novel rather than a mystery but it is a refreshing read.  There is plenty of intrigue to go around.  There are plots of treason, kidnapping, and revenge.  Imagine a spy story set in Elizabethan times. 

I’m not aware of the circumstances behind Mary’s bid to overthrow her cousin and assume the throne of England, as well as France and Scotland.  The Fugitive Queen is a work of fiction but seems as though it could be fact and it is fun and gives you a taste of life in late 1500’s England.

To Ruin a Queen by Fiona Buckley

Fiona Buckley continues her excellent Elizabethan series featuring Lady Ursula Faldene Blanchard La Roche in To Ruin a Queen. Buckley advances Ursula’s life, marriage to Matthew La Roche and her daughter Meg, but it seems that Elizabeth I cannot do anything without tricking Ursula into investigating threats to her throne. She knows that Queen Elizabeth is cunning and devious but still finds herself brought into a pit of treachery and treason.

After she loses a son in childbirth in France, she longs to have her daughter Meg, still in England, back with her. Ursula sends her loyal servants, Dale and Brockley to fetch her, but they return empty-handed. Meg is missing.

Ursula immediately departs for England, suspecting that Elizabeth is somehow behind her daughter’s mysterious disappearance. She doesn’t have to wait long. When she arrives at the manor where Meg was staying, Elizabeth and Cecil are waiting.

The queen tells her where Meg is, but there is a mystery at Castle Vetch as well. Elizabeth knows Ursula can’t resist unraveling a complicated knot of conspiracy and intrigue, but to sweeten the pot, she promises to return lands confiscated from Matthew. Ursula promises the queen two weeks, then she will return to France with Meg.

The Castle Vetch is occupied by the innately ambitious Mortimers. The mother of the lord in residence is convinced her son is plotting something against the crown, since he keeps hinting at it. She has no idea what it is.

Ursula is charged with finding out if there is anything to Mortimer’s boasts. When she arrives, she finds Meg in good condition so she sets out to uncover the secrets of Mortimer.

She finds out there is a lot more going on than plots against Elizabeth: an aging woman desperate to cling to her youth, an old crone accused of being a witch, a lovesick girl promised to an older man and two manservants fiercely loyal to their lady.

It seems to me that Buckely inserts more Tudorian history into this story than before with references to Anne Boleyn and her purported lover Mark Smeaton. She also gives a clearer insight as to what Elizabeth’s thoughts on love, marriage and family might have been since the queen remained unmarried throughout her reign. How would she have regarded someone’s sense of family through love and devotion, something she may not have experience personally since her father beheaded her mother on baseless rumors. This paints a plausible picture of a grand woman often portrayed as cold, tough and ruthless. It’s good to see the woman underneath the crown, and not just the queen.

To Ruin a Queen raises the bar on Elizabethan mysteries, although the whodunit was a tad predictable. However, Buckely does leave the reader with a tantalizing and surprising taste of the supernatural at the end.

Day 17 (cont.) - Oude Kirk, Amsterdam

The Oude Kirk is a medieval church in the heart of Amsterdam.

Many graves were beneath the floor dating from the sixteenth century. There is a movement to restore the church since the graves are in danger of being erased by centuries of people walking over them.

The grave of Rembrandt's wife Saskia in 1642.

This grave dates back to 1573.

For 6 Euros you could take a tour of the tower of Oude Kirk. This is a door in the tower where the bell ringers were. They could open it to hear the preacher or the organist so they would know when to ring the bells during church.

This bell has been here since 1659. It weighs 3700 kg, a little over 4 tons. The clacker is made of manganese, a soft metal so it won't damage the bell.

The view of Amsterdam from the tower.

The 'music box'. It played a short tune every hour. It's playing here.

Day 5 (cont) - Kronborg Castle

The third and final stop on the tour was Kronborg Castle, built by Eric of Pomerania in the 1420's as a fortress. Frederick II turned it into a Renaissance castle (1574-1585). Christian V restored it after a fire in 1629.

Shakespeare never visited the castle but got his information from actors who had been there.

Fuzzy as a sentry.

Sweden, historical enemies of Denmark but now best of friends.

Seth enjoys the view.

Payton and James are all abuzz with excitement.

Seth demonstrates the size of the fireplace.

One of many beautiful tapestries.

The ornate and magnificent chapel.

The pipe organ.

The giant guarding the castle.

The dungeons underneath the castle.