Got about half way done and per the NetGalley description I thought this had something to do with mystery. It was very historical with a dash of fiction. Sadly not a fan.

Margaret Beaumont finds herself the last remaining hope for the House of Lancaster and has to navigate the delicate balance of power, showing no fear whilst trying to maintain her power amongst the conspiratorial court politics. Survival looks to be an issue, let alone rising to power once again. Her son must be concealed and smuggled out of the Country before he is found and executed he has a real claim to the throne that cannot be tolerated by the victors. It falls to Margaret and her clerk, Christopher Urswicke to try and turn a near-hopeless situation to their advantage.

Four bodies are discovered with their throats slit and it's up to Ulswicke to unravel the mystery of who killed them and why they were murdered. In order to save his mistress, Ulswicke must prove her innocence but does anyone actually want to know the truth or is this just another round in the games of power that are taking place?
Personally, I don’t think Paul could have picked a more fascinating character than Margaret Beaufort Countess of Richmond she was Widowed at the age of thirteen, a mere three months before the birth of Henry VII, proved herself a master of political conspiracy once the moment was right and got her son the title to the throne of England. The things that she did to both stay alive and stay influential… well, there’s certainly more than one story here and worth taking a nosey.

Christopher Ulswicke also based on a real person, he is our detective and an interesting lead. Beaufort uses Christopher Urswicke as a spy and decoy. He was loyal and employed by Margaret to forward the schemes for securing the English throne for her son, Henry of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII. As much as Christopher is an interesting individual there’s very little information about him on the internet. Throughout the book as his conspiracies progress, Paul does a great job at keeping them deliciously convoluted while never losing the reader as to who is playing who and at what.

I think this book leans slightly more to a historical take on the period rather than a full-blown mystery novel as Paul takes a number of real events and weaves a story around making it an interesting read and worth the time. That’s isn’t to say Paul hasn’t don’t a marvellous job weaves the murders into the conspiracy and political deception, I was completely gripped by the tale.
Some readers might be put off by the pacing of the book. The opening chapter does have a bit of an information dump but it has a lot of useful information about the status of the numerous characters, but it soon settles down into what is for the first half of the book, political intrigue. Paul, in my opinion, is a master at bringing the sights and sounds, the politics to life, there are plenty and intrigue and blood-curdling moments in this book.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. The prose were fine, appropriate for the period. The characters seemed to be well developed. The story was historically accurate. It is hard to express exactly what the problem was, but I simply did not like it. It was often like reading a religious tome - not with respect to subject matter, but the feel of the writing. It was like slogging through the mud. I'm so sorry to say that about Mr. Doherty's writing.

You want double crossing, intrigue, cunning, & murder? Then throw in the turmoil of the war in England of the War of Roses & you get a book full of intrigue, murder, & double agents. The story line, to me, is a bit chopppy & a bit hard to read. This book had a hard time keeping my attention span and that is why a star was knocked off it. Though I felt the author knew the history and the characters, it just didn't seem to flow together until the very end. Once the story line started flowing then the book was quite entertaining, though still hard to keep my attention span on it.

If you like this time in history give the book a try. I do not regret reading it, but I would not have picked it up in the store.

I consider myself relatively well versed in this time period, at least in the sense that I've read a lot of books on the era. Dark Queen Rising isn't what I expected it to be - a very small amount of it focuses on Margaret herself, instead choosing to work through the eyes of Christopher Urswick, her manservant. Although we get fragments from Margaret's own perspective, I feel like her character is underused, and she's never properly characterised due to this.

The title of a 'Historical Mystery' is also not that fitting. There is a slight mystery element, yes, but it wasn't particularly engaging, and seemed to have little bearing on the overall plot. Overall, this book was disappointing, mostly in how little Margaret Beaufort actually featured, used more as a plot device than a concentric character.

I just couldn’t get into this book like I do most books based around King Henry viii and his wives! I am a huge fan of the time frame and all the theories and speculation going on with him and all the wives but something about this book just rubbed me the wrong way and I just did t enjoy it!

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. I love history books. I love to read what goes on behind the scenes of it all. The mystery meetings and secret letters. It reminds me that we don't always know the truth behind the madness. This book was no different and I loved every moment of it. A mother's love for her son and her quest to protect him. A must read.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I really dig Margaret Beaufort. I think she often gets a bad rap and isn't represented well in popular literature or tv shows. So I was excited to see a novel focusing on her. Only it was really a lot more through the eyes of her manservant than her, which was disappointing.

I have long been a fan of Paul Doherty, but this book is truly wonderful. So much more than a murder mystery, Dark Queen Rising tells about the last days of the war between the Roses. The french queen has been driven from the throne, her saintly but sometimes crazy husband the king is in the hands of the Lancastrians, and the prince is in hiding with his mother. Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, widow of Jasper Tudor and mother of Henry Tudor, potential heir to the throne, walks a delicate line to protect her son, and her life, from the depredations of the Yorkists as they take revenge on those they have defeated. Particularly horrendous is Clarence, brother to Edward, now King of England (or will be, once he's gotten the old king permanently out of the way). Clarence is wily, untrustworthy and truly vicious and will stop at nothing to get what he wants...which may include Margaret's life and that of her son, as well as a throne! Yet Margaret, along with her son and her faithful retainers, may yet survive Clarence's murderous machinations.

Dark Queen Rising is fast paced and exciting, as well as historically accurate. The introduction to the time period that Doherty provides at the very beginning takes you immediately into that troubled and terrible time. Margaret is truly wonderful figure - intelligent, creative, faithful to family and values - and you so want her to win. Blessed with her two faithful retainers, she is wily enough to successfully negotiate with those enemies who want the best for England, and escape the fate designed for her by those who are only in it for themselves. Dark Queen Rising is a must read for any devotee of historical fiction!

This wasn’t for me. I like historical fiction but this was slow. The story was more nonfiction than anything. And the flow was hard to follow.

1471, England, and the kingdom is in uproar, mostly concerning whose kingdom it actually is. Edward IV has finally triumphed over the forces of Henry VI, despite the ailing monarch having been locked in the Tower for a while, with his Queen, Margaret of Anjou finally captured. But Edward’s position is not secure – his brother the Duke of Clarence plots in the shadows and as for his brother, Richard Duke of Gloucester… well, I’ve a hunch you know where he eventually ends up.

The last remaining hope for the House of Lancaster is Margaret Beaufort and her son, Henry Tudor, but even survival looks to be an issue, let alone rising to power once again. As all sides try and position themselves for an advantage, it falls to Margaret and her clerk, Christopher Urswicke to try and turn a near-hopeless situation to their advantage. But when murder (eventually) strikes, it falls to Ulswicke to find the truth. But does anyone actually want to know the truth or is this just another round in the games of power that are taking place?


A new series for Paul Doherty – it’s out today in the UK, but Amazon seem to think it’s out of stock, which I guess mean strong pre-sales – and we’re heading to that magnet of British history, the Tudors. Well, the eve of the Tudors I suppose. As with Michael Jecks’ Jack Blackjack series, Paul has slotted into a period that should interest readers who are fond of the tales of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, in this case the last hurrah of the Wars of the Roses that lead to Henry’s father seizing the throne, and hence mining a seam of mostly untold tales, especially in the historical mystery genre. Having said that, Paul’s own Kathryn Swinbrooke series is set in the same era (but away from the politics) and he wrote a standalone concerning the death of Henry VI, Dove Amongst The Hawks, that I highly recommend.

As for the focus, he couldn’t have picked a more fascinating character that Margaret Beaufort. Seriously, check her out on Wikipedia. The things that she did to both stay alive and stay influential… well, there’s certainly more than one story here. Urswicke, too, as our sleuth, also a real character, is an interesting lead, loyal to Margaret (or is he playing her), he was possibly the founder of the British Secret Service but there’s much less information about him on the internet – so I guess he did a pretty good job. As his machinations progress, Paul does a great job at keeping them deliciously convoluted while never losing the reader as to who is playing who and at what.

Some readers might be put off by the pacing of the book. The opening chapter has a lot of information about the status of the numerous characters and I did find myself checking the cast of characters a few times as it progressed to remind myself who was who and how they were related to each other, but it soon settles down into what is for the first half of the book, political intrigue. Gripping and fascinating, but it takes a while for the murder – four men, slit throats, door locked from the inside – to take place. Having said that, I didn’t have an issue with it, as at that point (not a blurb reader) I’d figured that it wasn’t going to be a murder mystery per se, but readers who did read the blurb (which mentions the killings the focus of the tale) should be warned. Paul weaves the murders into the conspiracy plotting beautifully and by that point, I was completely gripped by the tale.

It’s an immensely satisfying take on an area of history that I don’t know enough about. Paul takes a number of real events and weaves a story around them that once it has hooked the reader, never lets them go. For fans of historical mysteries, this is Highly Recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House Publishing for a digital galley of this novel.

Fans of Paul Doherty's historical mysteries might want to be aware that this first book in a new series was not, strictly speaking, a mystery novel. Yes, after about 65% of the book had gone by there was a locked room mystery for one of the main characters, Christopher Urswicke, to solve but those questions never translated into a "mystery novel". From experiences in the book I knew at this point that it would be just as likely for any of Margaret Beaufort's followers to just step up and admit to her they were the killer. Or even Margaret might have been capable of the deed. No tension, not even any positive feeling that solving a mystery was a major focus in the book.

To me this novel was historical fiction, full stop. I happen to love reading historical fiction so why did I not enjoy this? My answer is that there wasn't enough emphasis put on one specific character so that I could build a relationship with that person. Margaret of Beaufort, Countess of Richmond should have been where my attention was pinned. Instead there were other characters who had equal standing in the story with no one person taking the lead part. My favorite character was Christopher Urswicke but even he felt under developed. Maybe that's the key to my not enjoying the book, it felt as if no person was developed enough to take center stage in the story.

Another aspect of the story that I definitely did not enjoy was the vast amount of attention paid to the horrible death scenes that happened as a result of this revolt and fighting. Characters couldn't just walk by a wall or a gate, no, they walked by a wall or a gate being fully described as an exhibition place for all the horrors men did to the physical bodies of their enemies. I'm pretty much able to take some vivid descriptions but this book had my stomach roiling throughout. So, so, so many words focused on the desecration of the human body. For me it was excessive.

This was not a success for me and I was disappointed. I had expected one thing but got another. I appreciated the information about Margaret Beaufort and this month of May, 1471, during the winding down of the Wars of the Roses but it wasn't worth having to wade through all the muck, blood and gore.

Paul Doherty is usually among my favorite authors. Unfortunately Dark Queen Rising felt like a total miss. It felt as if fully the first third of the book was comprised of historically background. I impatiently read on because the characters seemed so promising. In fact, the most interesting among them (the proto- Bond spy Urswicke) had the most storyline, yet still not enough to suffice. The other characters, based upon actual historical figures, were strangely uncompelling. The titular queen, her henchman, and her sworn enemies felt too one dimensional. The relationship between character development and storytelling, versus the sheer volume of historical facts just did not feel balanced. I was looking for historical fiction, but experienced more non-fiction instead.

I was massively disappointed in this book. I was extremely excited to discover DARK QUEEN RISING. I adore historical fiction novels centered around the Tudors; especially those centered around Margaret Beaufort. I have seen her portrayed in both good and bad lighting, and was very curious to see how Paul Doherty would paint her portrait. And while I actually enjoyed the author's recounting of her story, I kept getting hung up on the writing style. The sentences/paragraphs didn't flow into one another seamlessly. I would find myself reading along, only to have to stop to re-read something, or even backtrack to make sense of the sentence. The conversations between characters didn't sound natural, and many sections were repetitive and needlessly wordy.

While I can definitely see that Paul Doherty has a talent for writing, the way he creates an historical fiction just isn't for me.

I love Paul Doherty's books … particularly the Hugh Corbett and Brother Athelstan's mysteries .

However this book whilst extremely enjoyable is not a mystery in the same vein - it is however
a particularly good view of the Court Politics of the time and how a strong woman is able to navigate
her way whilst keeping not just herself but her son and servants alive .

After the battle between the Houses of Lancaster and York , Margaret Beaumont , mother to Henry Tudor , finds herself navigating the delicate balance of showing no fear whilst trying to maintain her powerbase that reflects the Court politics of the time . Her son must be secreted out of the Country before he is found and executed …….he has a real claim to the throne that cannot be tolerated by the victors . Using her servants as spies and decoys she uses her status to deflect suspicion from the new King and his brothers as to her real motives .

The Author is a master at bring the sights and sounds , the politics of whatever time he sets his novels in to life . We become engaged in the characters lives , investing time and effort into the story's outcome and their survival .


Another excellent book by the author BUT not quite a mystery on a par with the likes of Hugh Corbett etc .

I was given an arc of this book y the Publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review