In a Treacherous Court

In a Treacherous Court (2011) Michelle Diener (Susanna Horenbout and John Parker #1)

Set in London in 1525

Although the main characters are based upon real people, almost nothing is known about Susanna Horenbout and John Parker except for their court positions and that they were married to each other.

Additionally part of the story hinges upon a possible reason for why Henry VII all but locked up his son for a year, even forbidding him to speak to anyone.

Susanna has come to the court of the young Henry VII to be his court illustrator. She is met at the docks by John Parker, Keeper of the Palace of Westminster and Henry’s Yeoman of the Crossbows (and later promoted to Keeper of the King’s Robes) where she attended the death of Master Harvey, and someone believes he told her a secret–and seems to want her dead before she can betray that secret.

The story doesn’t pull any punches about the kind of place the courts were at the time.

Parker wondered for the hundredth time how Henry and Nicholas Carew broke bread together, joked and tourneyed together, with Elizabeth between them. William Carey had received an estate, payment for services rendered by his wife, now that those services were no longer required.

And John Parker is contrasted with one of the lords who holds him in contempt.

Henry prized grace and elegance, courtly manners, romance. Norfolk was a boor whose only accomplishment was hunting deer and whose idea of courtly romance was to beat his wife when she complained about his mistress being given quarters in her home.

And the painting bits are lovely.

But there was no fun for her in producing a faithful rendition of the scene. She slipped in a tiny mouse, peeping from behind a guard’s shoe. A cat—plenty of those had slunk past her as she waited—crouched under a heavy chair, shoulders hunched, weight forward, its eyes steady in readiness to pounce. From the patterned silk paneling, a small songbird broke free of the fabric and fluttered up to perch on a wooden window frame.

It’s been ages since I read this series, and I’m glad I picked it up again.

Characters: John Parker, Mistress Susanna Horenbout, Mistress Greene, Peter Jack, Eric, Harry, Simon, Master Harvey, Mistress Harvey, Dr. Pettigrew, King Henry (VIII), Queen Katherine, Father Haden, Master Selby, Gripper, Gladys Goodnight, Rhys, Maggie, Marcus, Charles Brandon the Duke of Suffolk, Will, Francis Bryan, George Boleyn, Tom Fielder, Edward Neville, William Carey, Henry Courtenay, Henry Guildford, Elizabeth Carew, Nicholas Carew, Denny, John Rightwise, Norris, Lady Mary Browne, Margaret, Lady Guildford

Publisher: Gallery Books

Rating: 8/10

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