The fourth book for the fourth wife of Henry VIII…
You can call me a bit slow if you wish, but even having read two of the three previous titles in Jeri Westerson’s King’s Fool series (see here), it still took me until this current one to realize that there is going to be one book in the series for each of Henry VIII’s wives. Which was confirmed in the excellent author’s note at the end, so now both you and I know, even without reading the blurb, that this fourth book, Devil’s Gambit, is about Harry’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. Who was one of the lucky ones who didn’t die from her marriage.
Just like Westerson’s “medieval noir” Crispin Guest series, the King’s Fool books have a bit of grit to them. The times were perhaps harsher than generally today, and Westerson doesn’t pull punches as much as some. But the King’s Fool series also has, as you might expect, a good bit of laughter, and in Devil’s Gambit at least, not a small amount of pure farce. I ended up snorting out loud both at the “travelling body”, and at Will’s efforts to explain the facts of life (err, facts of sex) to both his (perhaps) former lover and the former lover’s new wife. Although not, thankfully at the same time.
The mystery side of things was also crisp, although there was a bit of foreshadowing that made me pretty sure I knew whodunnit before the end. But I still kept turning pages, both to confirm my guess, and perhaps even more, to enjoy Will’s wit, intelligence, and humanity. And as mentioned above, I loved the author’s note at the end. One minor issue is that, in all three of the books I’ve read so far, I’m always a little bit nervous that Will’s “extracurricular” activities will get him in serious trouble. Personally, I’d rather not have to worry about this, since it’s a bit of an irritant that I can’t scratch, but I can see how the tension adds to the plots. And hopefully the fact that the “real” Will Somers lived well into Queen Elizabeth’s reign means he won’t get into trouble in the fictional series either.
All-in-all, Devil’s Gambit was a pleasure to read, and I highly recommend it for anyone who has a thing for historical mysteries. And my thanks go to Old London Press and NetGalley for my review copy.
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