Customer Reviews

The Poyson Garden (Elizabeth I Mysteries, Book 1)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

And her followers are prepared to do just that... Karen Harper has successfully evoked Bloody Mary's England on the eve of Elizabeth I's ascent to the throne. She's created a human, believable young woman, terrified of plots against her royal person, trusting her loyal retainers despite warnings that no one is to be trusted, and truly regal, withal. The historicals details are many and fascinating and this is a terrific mystery, too! The identity of the poisoner, and the poisoner's ties to Queen Mary, is keep in abeyance to the very end; the suspense is excellent. 'Tis often said that a certain book is "hard to put down"---in this case, it's absolutely true. I look forward to Harper's next Elizabeth I adventure, The Tidal Poole.

So, I got this book on a wim thinking, "I love mystery, and i love Elizabeth I, so maybe I'll love this" My expectations were low, but hey i had free time and decided to read it.

This is a great book, no matter how cheesey you think this plot might be, give it a chance. Ive actually been made fun of for reading it by people who havnt, but i still say its good stuff.

My reason for a 4 and not a 5 is because the others are better, so read this one and i promise youll want to read the others too.

I love books about Elizabeth I, King Henry and the whole Tudor period. I thought the premise of this book was interesting, and a different twist on both the mystery genre, and Elizabeth. For the most part the book was interesting, filled with bits and pieces of historical information. Where the story fell flat for me was the mystery. I found it boring. The protagonist wasn't ayone we get to know during the course of the book, and I like mysteries where there are some surprises and interesting twists. The villain was evil enough, but it was more like, oh so that's the murderer. No slap to the head saying Oh wow, that's the murderer, why didn't I see that coming!! And then you start to piece the clues together. I suppose that this is a cozy mystery, I like a little more suspense. The best parts of the book were the interactions of Elizabeth and her rather interesting mix of "friends". I did enjoy the end, when Elizabeth learns she is the Queen, though, it was a nice touch.

If the story of the Tudors were written as fiction we probably wouldn't believe it - but would have a good time with the story. Karen Harper does a great job of taking this most improbable piece of history and winding a nifty mystery fiction into the life of young Elizabeth.

The strongest part of the book are the characters. Harper had plenty of material for Elizabeth and makes her come alive. Bess is both sympathetic and, at times, annoyingly regal. Her nemisis, known as "she" for much of the book, makes Cruela de Ville look like a PTA president. She may be a bit overdrawn but is lots of fun (in an evil sort of way). The supporting cast of Bess' Privy Council work well - with Harper regularly casting doubts on whether one or more are spies for Mary.

The pacing moves well and kept me turning pages (well, turning tapes as I listened to the unabridge audio version). Bottom-line: a fun historical mystery series that I'm eager to read more of soon.

"The Poyson Garden" is first in a mystery series by Karen Harper, retired English teacher, that gives us England's famous 16th century Queen Elizabeth in a new light, as a detective. It's fun, light on its feet, moves quickly, and competently written. Further, the author evidently did some homework.

We meet Elizabeth as she's a relatively young woman of 25. Her older half-sister Mary is Queen. Mary's Catholic, making her name as Bloody Mary by persecution of Protestants. (It was their infamous bluebeard father, King Henry VIII, who broke with Catholicism in order to divorce Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon, and marry Elizabeth's, Anne Boleyn). Elizabeth's childhood and life before we meet her have certainly been anxiety-provoking: Henry had her mother beheaded when she failed to produce a son, and Elizabeth herself has twice been imprisoned in the menacing Tower of London, that few ever left alive. In the book at hand, we are meant to think that Elizabeth's anxiety continues. There seems to be a poisoner at work, trying to kill Elizabeth and her family, the Boleyns. We're meant to believe that Elizabeth fears her half sister's behind the poisoner, and that she, Elizabeth, will not live to inherit the throne. We're further meant to believe that the Queen in waiting therefore takes up detection in self-defense.

Unfortunately, the book's history is a little wonky. Most significantly, it gives us an Elizabeth quite unlike the well-documented queen with which history presents us. So it does require a major suspension of disbelief: perhaps too major for some.

Fanciful tale of a young Elizabeth Tudor and her mischievous adventures as a period sleuth-stress (is there such a word!?). Simple plot and colorful details make this an engaging mystery for fans of historical fiction.

I thought this book was an excellent beginning for a new series of murder mysteries with Elizabeth I as the detective. The author includes enough historial figures that Elizabeth had to deal with and adds new characters to flesh out the story. I really enjoyed Elizabeth being a real young woman with fears of what happened to her mother and her mother's sister. The court intrigue is wonderfully dealt with, as is her forming of her "privy council" . I look forward to the next one and the next!