The Poyson Garden (Elizabeth I Mysteries, Book 1) [Hardcover]

Karen Harper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1999

Fans of bestselling authors Anne Perry and Ellis Peters are sure to love Karen Harper's new historical mystery series, rich with period detail and featuring Elizabeth Tudor, the future queen of England, as its heroine.

Living in exile in the English countryside, the twenty-five-year-old Princess Elizabeth awaits her fate during the waning years of her ill and childless half sister's reign.  Despite an occasional truce, there has always been bad blood between Queen Mary and the princess since Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn, replaced Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon, in the heart of King Henry VIII.  Mary has already sent Elizabeth to the Tower of London when a group of Protestants raise a rebellion in her name, forcing Mary to release her, and the half sisters into an uneasy détente.

Little does Elizabeth know that in the autumn of 1558, she will be called upon to explore not only England's rural heartland, but also her own heart.  At great risk to her person and her nation's future, she plunges herself into an investigation of a multiple murder where she might very well become a master poisoner's next victim.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Imagine a cross between the films Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love (without the latter's jokes) and you'll get some idea of this first entry in Karen Harper's Bess Tudor series of historical mysteries. It's 1558, and the 25-year-old Elizabeth, her life and family threatened by the dying, jealous Queen Mary, actually dresses up like a boy and slips off to Hever Castle. There she bonds with the spirit of her mother, Anne Boleyn, and solves several murders.

In lesser hands, such a plot might seem unlikely. But, as she has done in such previous books as Black Orchid, Dark Road Home, and Empty Cradle, Harper stills disbelief and quickens interest with her impeccable research and competent prose. The former high school English teacher knows how to create characters that leap to life despite the accumulated weight of previous books and films: her Elizabeth is a smart, sad, tough, and feisty original, fully worthy of both her mother and her father's heritage. It should be great fun to watch her grow and solve future mysteries. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Elizabeth Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, bides her time as her half-sister, Queen Mary I, burns heretics and sickens in the year 1558. Elizabeth's time may be short, however: a murderer, possibly backed by Mary, is poisoning anyone related to the Boleyn family. Elizabeth's cousin, Henry Cary, survives a poisoned arrow attack, but his mother, Mary Boleyn, dies of poison shortly after meeting Elizabeth in secret at a secluded country estate. Closely guarded at Hatfield by Thomas Pope and his wife, Beatrice, Elizabeth nonetheless determines to uncover the mysterious veiled woman behind the poisonings, a task that requires her to dress as a lad and leads to her mother's childhood home at Hever Castle as well as to a moated castle in Leeds. Mary Tudor's England is realistically re-created in this series launch, and Elizabeth's servants prove a lively band. In Elizabeth, Harper has created an inspired if historically unlikely heroine, a young woman with natural curiosity about the mother she barely knew and with the grit to solve the mystery rather than fall victim to it. Suspending disbelief, readers will shiver as Elizabeth walks the corridor toward her mother's girlhood chamber at Hever, sensing a lost connection. The novel's finale, as Elizabeth meets her nemesis, is spoiled only by its lack of credibility?a small stain on an otherwise well-sewn tale.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 265 pages
• Publisher: Thomas T Beeler (December 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574901915
• ISBN-13: 978-1574901917
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,916,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book - look forward to the next volumes!, October 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Poyson Garden (Elizabeth I Mysteries, Book 1) (Hardcover)

As a student of Tudor and Elizabethan History and a life-long admirer of Good Queen Bess, I am always nervous of new novels or TV/Film adaptations about Elzabeth. A case in point is the recent "Elizabeth" film starring Cate Blanchett. Why does anyone have to change the basic facts or to take Elizabeth and her character out of context and create a salacious storyline when her own true life and story is exciting and thrilling enough as it is! As a result I was careful when reading THE POYSON GARDEN, but I was exceptionally pleased with the story and book.

The story runs quickly without the risk of losing the reader on the way. Elizabeth is shown as the quick tempered, vain woman she was, yet the reason for this temper is shown - the stress of being under suspicion (let alone the stress of being possibly murdered!). However, she is also shown as a caring person in her treatment and absolute trust of Meg when everyone else distrusts the girl. The new characters of Meg, Jenks and Ned give a new dimension to Elizabeth - that she is prepared to walk in any social circle and to give her loyalty to any who are loyal to her - she was no snob! I assume that the real background of Meg will be revealed in subsequent books and that we see more of all the characters with additions of others who were important in Elizabeth's life such as Robert Dudley and his sister Mary (who actually saved Elizabeth's life at the cost of her own beauty!)

The mystery itself is excellently set from Hatfield to Hever and Leeds. It would have been interesting to note in the book that Hever was previously owned by the Anne of Cleves until her death in 1558! Elizabeth actually visited her quite often and so would have known the house very well. She was taught by Anne all the housewifely skills such as cooking etc that a gentlewoman would require but not a Queen - this gave rise to a speech later in her life that if she had been turned out of her kingdom in her petticoat she could have made a good living!

Thankyou also for referring to Anne Boleyn in pleasant terms. She certainly did not commit any of the crimes that Henry VIII (that old bluebeard) had her charged with. Queen Anne's life and tragic murder was vindicated by her daughter's golden reign!

What I liked most of all was when fact had been ignored or manipulated (like the ownership of Hever), the change was believable and kept in context of the Tudor period.

Karen Harper also brilliantly and believably used a connection with Anne Boleyn as the poisoner - a relative of the Ormondes. Anne Boleyn was to marry James Butler, but Henry VIII stopped that match without Anne and James ever knowing why the match had been prevented. Anne didn't want to marry Butler, and eventually a match seemed to be arranged between Harry Percy and Anne - till that too was prevented again on Henry VIII's orders.

I would say to Karen Harper the authoress, Thank you very much for such an excellent book using Elizabeth as the heroine, but without necessarily rewriting her story yet again. I look forward to the subsequent books. Well done!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth Tudor, Private Investigator, April 20, 2004

By 

Gypsi Phillips Bates "bilbiophile" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Poyson Garden (Elizabeth I Mysteries, Book 1) (Hardcover)

Harper takes the Princess Elizabeth out of the sidelines and presents her as the protagonist of this mystery. Elizabeth discovers a plot to poison her and all her Boylen relatives and attempts to find the person behind it.

On one hand, it was a highly improbable premise, thinking that Elizabeth Tudor would be able to slip out from under the eyes of the "guardians" appointed by Queen Mary. But, on the other hand, history has shown that Elizabeth was not a woman to be stopped by mere conventions and potential danger. As we all know, "well behaved women rarely make history" and make history she did!

It was a lively mystery, well written and well described, with a solid plot. I felt a real affinity for this version of Elizabeth and for her loyal band of friends. It was not as entertaining as the Marston mystery recently read, but it was still a good read and I'm sure I'll read more of Harper's mysteries.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not As Good As I Had Hoped, May 17, 2001

By 

P. Bigelow (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Poyson Garden (Elizabeth I Mysteries, Book 1) (Hardcover)

This debut is set in 1558 and features Princess Elizabeth, the future Elizabeth I, of England. Her sister, Mary, sits on the throne and, fearing an uprising in Elizabeth's favor, has exiled Elizabeth from her court. Elizabeth lives in the countryside under the watchful eyes of Sir Thomas Pope. Elizabeth receives a missive from her Aunt Mary Boleyn begging her to visit. Elizabeth knows that Sir Thomas will refuse the visit so she sneaks out and makes her way to her Aunt Mary. What she discovers at Aunt Mary's is more than just an aunt she had been told had died years earlier. She discovers a plot to eliminate the remaining Boleyns and their supporters. She must discover who is behind the plot and why before she becomes a victim.

As in any fictional story, the reader is asked to suspend belief for a brief period in order to enjoy the story. However, Ms. Harper not only asks her readers to suspend belief, but to disregard any knowledge of Tudor history as well. While it may have been feasible for Elizabeth to escape the ever-vigilant Sir Thomas once for a few hours, the reader is asked to believe that Elizabeth made three or four escapes - two of which lasted not for a few hours, but for a few days.

Assuming the reader can get beyond Elizabeth being absent from Sir Thomas' care for a couple of days while she dashes across the countryside dressed as a boy, the story is a good read. Ms. Harper is particularly successful at showing Elizabeth's dilemma of naturally wanting to act as a future queen while at the same time aware that her every action is reported to Queen Mary and too queenly action on Elizabeth's part will not be greeted as good news by Queen Mary.

For those readers who pay attention to such things, Ms. Harper is particularly enamored of having Elizabeth's stomach doing somersaults on every other page. It got tiresome after the third or fourth time of Elizabeth, when confronted by even the merest danger, has her stomach clench, somersault, etc. It will be a wonder if she doesn't develop ulcers in the next entry in this series.

Ms. Harper has chosen a particularly difficult character, Elizabeth, as her protagonist. All her life Elizabeth was under close scrutiny, first as Princess and then as Queen. It will be interesting to see how Ms. Harper expects to write a series with Queen Elizabeth as sleuth.