A Time for the Death of a King [Hardcover]

Ann Dukthas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1994

A retelling of the controversial marriage between Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Bothwell, the man accused of murdering Mary's husband, Lord Darnley, begins a new series in which mysterious scholar Nicholas Segalla travels through time as a witness to history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This pseudonymous novel by a veteran writer of historical mysteries kicks off a series featuring Nicholas Segalla, an immortal investigator of real-life historical mysteries who's based loosely on the legendary Count of St. Germain. The focus here is on the assassination of dissolute, syphilitic Lord Darnley, consort of beautiful, courageous Mary, Queen of Scots. The novel opens in the present, with Segalla giving the author a manuscript detailing his investigation 430 years ago of Darnley's death. Forming the bulk of the novel, the manuscript relates how Segalla, then a Jesuit under Archbishop Beaton, Scottish envoy to Paris, was sent to Mary's court, arriving in time for the great explosion of February 10, 1567, which leveled the manor house at Kirk o' Field, Edinburgh. After the explosion, the bodies of Darnley and a servant were found in a nearby orchard, apparently strangled. Segalla's not especially convincing investigation exonerates the man generally considered the main suspect, the brutal, womanizing Lord Bothwell. While Dukthas's hero and her prose tend toward the melodramatic, the concept of an immortal sleuth investigating great historical mysteries has appeal-and could catch on with readers despite this novel's flaws.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Despite television's incessant lament that O. J. Simpson is the most famous person ever accused of murder, history tells us otherwise. More than 400 years ago, Mary Stuart, queen of Scots, was accused of plotting to murder her husband, Lord Darnley, in a cabal with her alleged lover, Lord Bothwell. Darnley was found dead at Kirk O'Field, lying with his squire companion, neither with a bruise on his body, some 40 yards from the house in which they were staying and which had just been destroyed by an explosion. The manner of Lord Darnley's death, as well as who murdered him, has remained a puzzle ever since. Until the present day, that is, when a mysterious visitor, Nicholas Segalia, who knows a great deal about the events and actually may have been around at the time, hands over a script to our author--and so the exciting story begins. Readers will not be disappointed by the swift and lean narrative and the solutions to the historical puzzle Dukthas draws. History fans may debate it, but mystery fans will love it. Eugene Sullivan

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312114397
• ISBN-13: 978-0312114398
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,169,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The History Channel meets James Bond, June 24, 2000

By 

Law Gal (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Time For The Death Of A King (Mass Market Paperback)

In the treacherous court of Mary Queen of Scots our story unfolds- and Sagalla, the immortal (we're never told how his immortality came to be)sleuth is sent to bring a secret messgae to the Queen- that danger is afoot for her and her ailing husband, the adulterous and empty-headed Lord Darnley.

If you know anything about history you know that the warning was in vain, Darnley dies mysterously following an explosion of his residence- but its here where the story gets good. The Raven Master,Wollsingham's agent in the Scottish court has arranged for the murder to be blamed on Mary, and her supposed love, Bothwell. In order to save the queen, Sagalla must uncover the identity of the Raven Master, avoid the treasonous lords who want Mary's power for their own and find the spy(ies) that are endangering his position in court and his life.

Using a cast of true, historical characters, and with only a little bit of bias (Mary was never as saintly as Dukthas makes her seem) the story becomes a complexe trail of clues that add up to murder, torture, adultery, treason and political intrigue. While often characters motives are left unclear and conclusions are drawn on evidence that is anything but understandable, the finished product is an enjoyable historical mystery that keeps you guessing to the last page.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The King is dead... was it the Queen?, March 14, 2004

By 

Karina A. Suarez "Karina A. Fogliani-Ahmed" (Walt Disney World, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Time for the Death of a King (Hardcover)

It is always fun to figure out whodunit in a mystery that has been left unsolved for centuries. In "A time for the death of a King", Ann Dukthas presents a very plausible solution to the murder of Lord Darnley, the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. What seems very romantic to me about Mary is the fact that, although she had the true Royal Blue blood that Elizabeth I lacked, she was to be Queen of England, Scotland, France and the Isles; she would - should have - been the most powerful Monarch in the medieval world and yet... for some obscure fateful reason, she didn't get to be. On Mary's behalf, I find that speaks a lot about her character. When she walked into England she practically gave herself up to her cousin. As Dukthas says at the end of the book, she was very likely tired from running (who wouldn't be?), tired of all the politicking around her, and wanted to live a life of peace, in a sort of quiet retirement. She would probably have achieved this, should she not have been who she actually was. Mary represented a great danger to the English Queen - or rather the English interests - and had to be given the ax, literally.

This historical whodunit offers superb plotting and a deep, dark look into the masterminds that rule our powerful world. It is unbelievable how far people will go in their conquest of power, be it for a goodness or an evil reason. Dukthas is also a superb descriptor of the era, bringing us inside the palaces, making us watch the famous masques: "They watched as a great shipped constructed especially for the masque about the Merovingians, those long-haired Kings of France who ruled the country long before the Valois were ever heard of" (Page 26); and providing explicit details of the luxuries such as perfumes, clothing materials ("...those popinjays, dressed in their yards of shot red and yellow taffeta, gold damask suits, jerkins edged with silver and white Florentine serge stockings." - page 20); and delicious foods, that will send you mouthwatering to research history of fashion as well as for a glass of the best garnet you can afford. Such descriptions abound, but what is really touching is Mary, the Queen as a character in all her vulnerability. Regardless what her personality was in real life, her humanity in Dukthas' portrayal is so vivid, it fleshes her out as unique. Even the cover art is commendable, showing a haunted Queen of Scots in all her regalia, looking over her shoulder, as her husband lies dead in the orchard.

The story takes us to the events of February 1567, that Sunday, the last night of the Carnival festivities, when Kirk o'Field blew up into a pile of ruble and Mary's husband and his personal aide were found dead in the orchard adjacent to the property. Dead they were, but hardly from such explosion. The bodies had no marks on them, no sign of a struggle, they seem "to be lying peacefully asleep," as many eyewitness accounts are reported to have said. Regardless of what really happened, this crime was no doubt the beginning of the end for Mary. However, as she embroidered in a handkerchief during her long captivity: "In the end is My Beginning." (Her son James succeeded Elizabeth I to the throne of England).

Dukthas introduces quite a novelty theme when choosing the sleuth as well. Nicholas Segalla is a Jesuit priest who lives in Paris, France, at the service of Archbishop Beacon, who was Mary's real envoy in that country at the time. He entrusts Segalla with a fictitious wife and a servant to take a personal letter to Mary, where he warns her of danger and dark days ahead. What starts as a simple courier mission develops into that of avenging angel, and nothing the more suitable for someone like Segalla who, just like the fictional Highlander Duncan McLeod, has been in his thirties for the past 400 years! Segalla is a time traveler who has lived many lives, and will present himself to scholar Dukthas time and again with solutions to the most famous, unsolved murder mysteries of all time.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Accident prone raven master, April 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Time For The Death Of A King (Mass Market Paperback)

This book doesn't really get going until the king, darnley, is murdered...around page 90 or so. But once you get into it, you can't stop. A mysterious man who seems to never die tells the story of the death of king darnley, mary, queens of scot's second husband. You could call Darnley the pimp of the seventeenth century! especially when he comes down with syphillis. i would reccomend this book for history buffs!