Read All About It!
Do you have a favorite fiction genre? Mystery? Romance? Adventure? The latest additions to our fiction library include examples of these types—all with a Ricardian flavor. These and every other book in our fiction collection are free for American Branch members to borrow! Find out how to borrow and see our complete library holdings here.
If you aren’t familiar with Toni Mount’s mystery series, you are in for a treat with the Collector’s Edition of the The Colour of Poison & The Colour of Gold. You will meet Sebastian Foxley, a gifted artist, who must solve a murder to save his brother from the hangman’s noose. He is helped by Sir Robert Percy and Richard, Duke of Gloucester who becomes his patron. If you are already fans, this edition contains background material and the author’s insights, a medieval map of Seb’s neighborhood, and some fun quizzes.
The Colour of Rubies is Toni Mount’s most recent entry in the series. In unraveling a murder mystery at Westminster palace, Seb discovers spies and an international conspiracy that threatens the English succession.
The Protector by Kathleen M. Kelley is an account of the events over the summer of Richard’s Protectorship and the early part of his reign, focusing on his relationship with the Duke of Buckingham. Donated by the author.
At the Court of Broken Dreams by Laurence Baillie Brown, is the story of Eddie de la Pole, a fictional younger son of William de la Pole and Alice Chaucer, who is a friend of Anthony Woodville, then a follower of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and, finally a convert to Judaism. Donated by the author.
False Rumours and A Mystery of Blood and Dust by Danae Penn are both mysteries set in the summer of 1483 in Condom, Gascony which lies along the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. In the first book, while investigating the murder of a pilgrim, the half-English Guillaume Lansac and his wife Belina uncover a plot to assassinate the two English princes who are traveling from Luxembourg to Portugal. The second mystery takes place a few weeks later and involves the brutal murder of a local consul’s daughter. When Guillaume leaves topursue the potential assassin of the two English princes, Belina must continue the murder investigation herself.
The story of Richard’s first teenage romance is told in Maiden of Middleham by Bridget M. Beauchamp, which also gives us a portrait of a well-rounded, working-class heroine.
Diana Rubino’s Now and Always is a time travel romance in which Leah, a 21st century woman, falls asleep in a bed once owned by King Richard III and wakes up in the same bed but in Richard’s time. One of the king’s knights believes Leah is his intended bride, but she knows from history that the knight had murdered his wife.
In Hawker and the King’s Jewel by Ethan Bale, Hawker leads a ragtag band from Bosworth field to Venice in order to fulfill two promises he made to the dead king: to return a precious ruby ring to the Doge and to protect Richard’s illegitimate son.
Sons of York by Alex Marchant is the fourth book of The Order of the White Boar series in which the members of the Order join in Edward V’s attempt to regain the throne. The story of the Dublin King begun in King in Waiting ends with Edward’s defeat at Stoke—but not before the author throws in some twists.
Al Faron donated the unpublished manuscript of his play Kings’ Games, Or the Tragedy of Richard III Once More. Reviewed in the September 2020 edition of the Ricardian Register, the play follows the events of Richard’s Protectorship and reign.
— by Pauline Calkin, American Branch Fiction Librarian