Prince of Darkness [Hardcover]

Sharon Kay Penman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2005

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Time and Chance, the much anticipated fourth novel in her acclaimed medieval mystery series.

Bowing to an urgent summons from his former lover, Justin de Quincy hastens to Paris only to find that the Lady Claudine was, in fact, acting on behalf of his nemesis Prince John. As the Queen's man, de Quincy has already encountered John's murderous side. But now John tells him of a document implicating him in a plot to kill his brother, King Richard. The document is a forgery, and, despite his hunger for the crown, John is innocent of the charge. Still, a brother who looked with amiable contempt at John's earlier intrigues would hardly risk regicide. John must find the forger and prove the document false before Richard hears of it, and he entreats Justin to help him.

It takes more than John's wily charms to persuade Justin: It is only when he realizes that the welfare of the woman he serves, Eleanor of Aquitaine, is also at risk that Justin concedes. It is a concession that will take him to a bloody chamber on Mont-Saint-Michel, to a stinking dungeon in Brittany, to a murderous encounter in a Paris cemetery, and, ultimately, to the unraveling of a conspiracy that might have changed the course of history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Convincing 12th-century European intrigue lifts Penman's engrossing fourth medieval mystery (after 2003's Dragon's Lair). In 1193, King Richard the Lion-Hearted is still imprisoned, while his devious and unscrupulous brother, Prince John, schemes to position himself to claim the English throne. When an obscure conspiracy seeks to implicate the prince in a plot to kill the king, John turns to young Justin de Quincy, Eleanor of Aquitaine's devoted aide, for help in clearing himself of the treason charge. In his pursuit of clues pointing to a number of suspects, De Quincy stumbles across several murders. Penman deftly weaves actual historical events into the narrative with nary a false note. While the murderer's identity may not come as much of a surprise, the author's thorough familiarity with her chosen period more than compensates. Agent, Molly Friedrich at Aaron Priest. (Mar. 31)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–This mystery set in 12th-century England and France is long on character development and period adventure. The murder itself comes late in the plot, but teens with a taste for medieval politics–both international and gender–will be engaged by the twisting tale of Justin de Quincy's efforts to serve his Queen. The chapters are brief and roam between the British countryside and London, and Paris and the island of Mont St. Michel. Penman is careful and consistent in informing readers about communication issues arising as people from one culture try to speak with those of another. This series novel is less formulaic than Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael mysteries (Warner), so those who appreciate their first meeting with de Quincy and his cohorts can find others by Penman as well. The historical detail is scrupulously accurate without being presented as a history lesson.–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: A Marian Wood Book/Putnam; 1ST edition (March 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399152563
• ISBN-13: 978-0399152566
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,320 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am an American of Irish-English-Welsh heritage, and I currently live in New Jersey, although many of my readers imagine I am happily dwelling upon a Welsh mountaintop--but no such luck. I was once a tax lawyer, which I looked upon as penance for my sins. Like most writers, I was born with a love of the written word, although I never expected to be able to support myself as a writer; when you read about starving artists in their garrets, most of them have starving writers as roommates. But I was very lucky and I have been blessed to make my living as a writer for the past twenty-seven years or so. All of my novels--eleven at last count--are set in the Middle Ages, and focus upon England's most colorful dynasty, the Plantagenets. It is almost as if they lived their dramatic and often wildly improbable lives with future historical novelists in mind, and I am very grateful to them--especially to the Angevins,Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine and their equally famous children, known to their contemporaries as the Devil's Brood.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reading, May 29, 2005

By 

K. Huff (Radnor, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Prince of Darkness (Hardcover)

I waited a long time to check this book out of the library, since the store price for it is $25- way too much to spend on a book, even for someone like me. However, I'm not here to comment on the price of the book (which is much more reasonably priced on Amazon); rather, the content of the book is what concerns me. My wait for Prince of Darkness was not in vain, since this was probably one of the best books I have read so far this summer, and it is definitely better than the three books which preceed it in the Justin de Quincey series.

"The Prince of Darkness" is of course John, the malevolent and generally inept future king of England. Previously, he had been suspected of kidnapping his brother Richard the Lionheart, and of attempting to steal the ransom raised to have him released. In Prince of Darkness, however, John, although still very untrustworthy, was still portrayed in a more favorable light. In the winter of 1193-4, Richard was still imprisoned; taxes were raised to pay the ransom, which people gladly paid because Richard was a much-loved king. Here there is a plot to kill Richard, suspected to be orchestrated by his brother John. Justin de Quincey is set upon to find out the truth of these rumors and prevent the murder from happening, if need be. The investigation leads him to stumble over the bodies of two monks slain at Mont St. Michel, as well as the murder of a woman who is deeply involved with the case. In his search for the killer, de Quincey encounters a deadly spy named The Breton.

The Prince of Darkness is fraught with adventure and excitement, as Justin de Quincey, now a father, proves himself to be a more reliable, mature man than he was in his first few adventures. He still serves queen Eleanor, but this time he has personal connections with John and the men who serve him. Although I've read enough mysteries to predict the endings, this is still a book that will "put you on the edge of your seat," so to speak. The book, while fictional, is rooted in the actual politics of the time period, giving this book a sense of urgency. I like Sharon Kay Penman's works because she manages to blend fact and fiction so well, and makes us care about the people she writes about. It gives a picture into the lives of not only the nobility of the 12th century in England and France, but of the common people as well. I admired the ways in which Penman drew each character, and I applaud her depiction of John, since here he is not as bad a person as other writers have made him out to be.

In addition, I am given to understand that there will be more adventures featuring the intrepid Justin de Quincey; Penman especially sets this up at the end of Prince of Darkness, and mentions in a note at the end that she wants to do more with one of the characters she wrote about here. So read and enjoy this as well as the other three books in the series; more are still to come!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars siply excellent & not to be missed, April 18, 2005

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prince of Darkness (Hardcover)

If you're looking for a really good and well written medieval mystery novel that is rich in history and that fairly reeks of ambiance and atmosphere, look no further: Sharon Kay Penman delivers again with her latest Justin de Quincy installment, "The Prince of Darkness."

When Lady Claudine engineers a meeting between Justin and Prince John (King Richard I's treacherous and dangerous younger brother), Justin is understandably furious. After all this was the prince who had had put a death sentence on Justin's head because Justin had got in the way of his plans. But when Justin discovers why it is that Prince John needs his help, he knows that as Queen Eleanor's loyal henchman, he must help him. For Prince John now finds himself in the middle of a plot not of his making and that may cause him his place as Richard's heir, and perhaps, even his life. It turns out that Constance, the Duchess of Brittany and the widow of Geoffrey (King Richard's & Prince John's dead brother) claims to have in her possession evidence that Prince John and the Count of Toulouse had planned to murder Richard. Constance has always hated her Angevin relatives, and has plans to make her six year old son, Arthur (Richard's & John's nephew), the next King of all the Angevin lands after King Richard's death. And if she manages to discredit Prince John once and for all, her son will get everything. Prince John must prove that this document is a forgery, and for that he needs Justin's help. And so, once again, for his Queen's sake, Justin finds himself riding into danger in order to sort this latest royal mess, totally dependent on help from those he quite cordially loathes (like Durand) and one lovely lady that he loves but dare not trust -- the Lady Claudine...

This series just keeps getting better and better, and "The Prince of Darkness" definitely lived up to my expectations that I would be in for a thrilling and utterly riveting read. The period details and the historical ambiance were fantastic -- Sharon Kay Penman does a wonderful job of explaining the complex realities of the Angevin royal family and their various satellites, and making the characters and their relative situations comprehensible (even if I did get a little tired of nearly everyone's hero worship of Richard I). I liked how she seamlessly incorporated a very perplexing murder investigation into the real political and historical happenings of the time, and especially how she made Morgan Bloet a vital part of this story. Fast paced, suspenseful, tightly plotted and intriguing, the author successfully help my attention and interest from beginning to end. And need I say it? I eagerly waiting for the next Justin de Quincy installment when he will "ride again." A fantastic read.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well done history, ok mystery, June 15, 2005

By 

S. E. Kennedy "ocinnedeagh" (Minnesota, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Prince of Darkness (Hardcover)

This time Justin De Quincy (The Queen's Man) finds himself HELPING Lord John while his mother Queen Eleanor is in Germany securing the release of King Richard. I had a bit of trouble finding sympathy for John's plight - but that helped me to related to Justin who felt the same. I always find Penman's descriptions of 12th century England fascinating - and this time she she took me along with Justin to 12th century France as well. When it comes to her history, Penman is a terrific writer. As for the mystery of her books, I am not as impressed. I think she has improved with each of the three books, and this one is again much better. I did not have it figured out and I did enjoy the excitement of the hunt for the killer at large. It was a little anti-climactic but did set the scene for another book, and I hope she writes one. I like the character development and I find all of them interesting and pleasantly familiar. I look forward to more adventures with them.