A Famine of Horses: A Sir Robert Carey Mystery [Hardcover]

P. F. Chisholm (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1995

In the year 1592, Sir Robert Carey comes north to Carlisle to take up his new post. He has wangled his appointment to be nearer his true love. And of course, he can use the money....

Rich in atmosphere and packed with vivid real and fictional characters, few novels are as well imagined or as much fun as this romp through roguish courtiers, rival gangs, rustling, treason, and high ambition.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Chisholm steeps her story in so much 16th-century atmosphere and historical detail that much in this British debut is slow going. When Sir Robert Carey, courtier to Queen Elizabeth, is transferred to the Scottish border, he finds many problems. His brother-in-law has appointed him Deputy Warden over Richard Lowther, who assumed he would get the job. Carey has to contend with Lowther and the distrustful Sergeant Henry Dodd, who has just found the body of the son of a powerful feudal lord. Carey must convince Dodd that stemming the lord's vengeful tendency and bringing the murderer to trial is the civilized way of justice. While looking for the killer, they stumble on the makings of a border attack, which Carey suspects is being masterminded locally. Chisholm's short digressions on the new concept of due process are thoughtful but blunted by archaic terms. And Carey, an upright courtier with the gift of guile, remains too distant, never fully retaining the reader's sympathies.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA?A fun detective-adventure set in Elizabethan England, with many period details included. Sir Robert Carey arrives at his new post of Warden just in time to help locate the murderer of Sweetmilk Graham and prevent the escalation of a clan feud. The characters are unique individuals who often come alive through witty dialogue as they tease or argue with one another. Tension develops when Carey goes undercover as a peddler into the enemy's castle. The book is for more sophisticated readers, as many allusions and British terms of the time period are not defined in context, and there is no list of characters to help sort out identities and allegiances. Purchase for good readers who like historical fiction.?Claudia Moore, W.T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 270 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Co (March 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802732526
• ISBN-13: 978-0802732521
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,823,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a romp of a book this is!, February 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Famine of Horses (Sir Robert Carey Mysteries (Paperback)) (Paperback)

This is entertainment at its best. This book features authentic history and period detail cloaked in a rollicking story about wonderful characters. It is funny, touching and full of adventure. You'll love the hero (based on a real person), and the rest of the cast of characters are equally entertaining.

The writing throughout is excellent, with sparkling dialogue and just enough period descritpion that you'll swear you are actually there in Carlisle in 1592.

It is billed as a mystery, which is a little of a misnomer. There is a dead body and a search for the killer, but that is just one element among many. This book is hard to characterize; maybe "period adventure" fits it best. But even at its most exciting, it remains light-hearted.

Highly recommended.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful historical mystery., May 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Famine of Horses (Sir Robert Carey Mysteries (Paperback)) (Paperback)

"Famine of Horses" is the first title in the Sir Robert Carey Mystery series, and what a promising series it is! I was pleased to hear Poisoned Pen Press will be reprinting the other three titles in the series.

The year is 1592, the Elizabethan period. Sir Robert Carey, a courtier, along with his servant, Barnabus Cooke has left the Queens court. Sir Robert is now the Deputy Warden of an English Garrison run by his brother-in-law, Warden Lord Scrope. As the new Deputy Warden, Robert has his hands full trying to clean up a dishonest league of men, getting the garrison in order, solving the murder a young lad, putting together his brother-in-law's father's funeral, and finding out why there is such a shortage of horses - hence the title Famine of Horses.

Our hero is a strong honest man; it was hard watching him take such a beating both physically from others and emotionally from the woman he loves. I found his servant to be funny, although a little uppity. Philly is a typical sister and I admire Robert for his loyalty to her. I'm still out on Philly's husband. The story lines pulled together quite well. I found the historical aspects of the mystery to be factual and fascinating. The speech and atmosphere seemed so clear; I could easily visualize the surroundings and the characters. It's a wonderful historical mystery.

Brenda @ MyShelf.Com

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining swashbuckler, March 27, 2000

By 

Kay L. Robart - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Famine of Horses (Sir Robert Carey Mysteries (Paperback)) (Paperback)

Although a little thin in the mystery department, A Famine of Horses presents us with an interesting, entertaining character, authentic-seeming details of Elizabethan life, and lots of action. Sir Robert Carey arrives in the borderlands of England/Scotland to take on the job of Assistant Warden and has to cope with a jealous rival, a funeral procession lacking horses, a dead body with dangerous, revengeful relatives, and the arrival of his lady love--married, of course. How Sir Robert solves both mysteries, of the disappearing horses and the body, makes a fun read that you want to gallop through to the end! I have never read any of this series before and am looking forward to more.