I find myself going back to tried and true authors during this pandemic. Maybe its because everything is so chaotic right now that I am less willing to experiment with a new author, or maybe its because I know that with these authors I can find the escape I need from the strange reality all around us. What ever the reason, I found Penman’s The Dragon’s Lair an absolute treat!

Set in England in 1193, Eleanor of Aquitane is frantically amassing the ransom she needs to free her son. Richard the Lionheart from imprisonment by the Holy Roman Emperor in Austria. One of the payments is supposed to come from Wales, but on its way to Eleanor the wagon train carrying rich bundles of wool are beset by robbers who kill the guards and burn the wagons and the wool. Suspecting that something is amiss, Eleanor sends her man Justin de Quincy to investigate.

What de Quincy finds are more questions than answers and he soon realizes that the robbery was more that a robbery and a deeper treachery may be behind the loss of the ransom. As he investigates, a murderer stalks his path and his life and the lives of those around him are in jeopardy.

Penman, known for her historical novels of the Plantagenets, starting with When Christ and His Saints’ Slept or her Welsh Prince trilogy, beginning with Here be Dragons, meticulously researches her characters, the way people lived and the social, political and religious climate that drives their actions. So it is no wonder that even when creating a completely fictional character like Justin De Quincy she makes use of all of her knowledge, creating a totally believable story set in a rich historical context. This is book three in this ongoing series so if you like historical fiction and detective novels you have a lot of wonderful hours ahead of you!

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 Out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Marian and Sharon

Book Study Worthy? Sure, why not!

Read in ebook format.