Christmas is a time of merriment and joy unless you are in the court of Henry VIII in 1536. Then it is a time of stress and murder. Henry’s second wife Anne Boleyn has only been dead for a few months while his third wife Jane Seymour is slowly adjusting to her new role as queen. A rebellion known as the Pilgrimage of Grace is taking over northern England and the leader Robert Aske wants to visit the court to discuss matters with King Henry VIII. To top it all off, a servant of Queen Jane has been murdered and the only one who can solve the crime is a fool, Will Somers. Can Will Somers connect the dots and save those closest to him, or will the treasonous act be another downfall in such a tumultuous year? This is the premise for the third book in the A King’s Fool Mystery series, “Rebellious Grace” by Jeri Westerson.
Thank you Severn House and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this novel. This is the second book in the A King’s Fool Mystery series I have read, the first being The Twilight Queen. While I had issues with The Twilight Queen when I saw that Westerson would cover the Pilgrimage of Grace and Jane Seymour in her next novel, I decided to give the series another chance.
We begin with the discovery of the body. The male servant Geoffrey Payne had his neck slashed in a rather unusual way, but there was no murder weapon by the body. The body is quickly buried and the investigation is left to Sir Nicholas Carew. However, this is not the only distraction at court, as Will Somers will soon find out. There is a real divide between Protestants and Catholics throughout the kingdom and while Queen Jane Seymour acts as a peacemaker at court, in other areas of England, the Pilgrimage of Grace is on the move to bring back Catholicism, led by Robert Aske. Thomas Cromwell has the idea of inviting Robert Aske to join the Christmas celebrations to discuss matters. And then there is the fact that Elizabeth and Mary are joining their father at court as a way to reconcile. So, you know, a very quiet Christmas.
With the craziness of court, Will Somers is of course caught directly in the middle of the mess. He is not only trying to cheer up his friend and employer King Henry VIII, but after it is discovered that poor Mr. Payne’s corpse was dug back up and disemboweled, he is asked to assist Sir Nicholas Carew with the investigation. To add even more drama, there is a connection between the dead man, the queen’s jewels, and the Seymour family. Will has to juggle all of this plus his ever-complicated love life between his wife Marion and his lover Nicholas Pachett.
I loved this mystery, especially the additions of the characters John Blanke, Jane Foole, Jane Seymour, and Edward Seymour. It was so gripping and well-balanced that I finished it in a day, which I hadn’t done with a book in a while. If you want a delightful murder mystery set in the court of Henry VIII or if you have read the other books in the A King’s Fool Mystery series, I highly recommend you read, “Rebellious Grace” by Jeri Westerson.
Greenwich Palace is a Tudor palace full of glamour, intrigue, and murder. A musician has been found murdered in the chambers of the current wife of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn. Only one person can solve this crime while protecting the royal family. No, he is not a knight or a lawyer, but a fool. No, an actual fool or jester of the court of Henry VIII, Will Somers. A man who is loyal to his king Henry VIII, but can he save his second wife from the murderer lurking in the shadows? Jeri Westerson’s Will Somers follows the clues to uncover the truth to protect those who are the most important to him in book two of A King’s Fool Mystery series, “The Twilight Queen.”
Adventures of a Tudor Nerd 