A Falcon Falls: The Death of Queens (Tudor Crimes Book 9)

4.6/5 ( ratings)

The years of plot and counterplot are drawing to a close. Katherine is on her deathbed, and Queen Anne is with child. Ambassador Chapuys, and the faithful Lady Salinas sit by the old queen's bedside, and listen to her last words, whilst Henry and his court rejoice at her coming end. Thomas Cromwell knows that Katherine's death is the turning of a page for him, and what follows will prove to be either his end, or a new beginning. Anne Boleyn knows that Cromwell has tried to talk Henry into a second divorce, and her hatred is now focussed on the Privy Councillor, and all at Austin Friars. She needs only give birth to safeguard her position. Will Draper struggles to keep faith with his old master in the face of terrible odds. Whilst the court wrangles over the succession, the nobility of England fail to see a growing threat to their power. The northern counties remain Roman Catholic, and see the failure of crops, and their poverty, as a punishment on Henry for turning away from Rome. Rebellion is in the air. The death of Katherine is but the precursor of a string of events that will lead to a dark time in Tudor history. Just as Anne is on the brink of toppling Thomas Cromwell, events conspire to turn the tables on her. Cromwell realises that he has one last chance to overcome his advesary, and save everything he holds dear. He presses Henry to grant permission for one last investigation, and lures him into ever closer ties with the Seymour family.Willing men, desperate to make a name for themselves, are chosen to carry out an audacious murder, and the young men of Austin Friars find themselves tested to the full once more. Cromwell is shown to be the most human of men, as he he struggles to put Anne Boleyn aside, and replace her in Henry's affections with Jane Seymour. The usual array of Austin Friars characters vie to succeed in a dangerous world.
'This is the ninth book in the series, and the pace shows no sign of slacking' AB
'This is the first I have read... and I cannot wait for the rest of the series...' Verified purchase reader.
TUDOR CRIMES is a great, sprawling epic of English history that centres on the great powers of Tudor times, and interweaves with the day to day existance of ordinary people. The Drapers are an up and coming couple, who serve themselves by serving the likes of Thomas Cromwell, and the king, and by building a mercantile empire of their own making. The story of Miriam Draper, an orphaned Jewish girl, who fights to build her business, as a woman in a man's world, is a recurring, fascinating, thread throughout the saga, whilst her husband's career develops from him being an impovrished soldier of fortune, to his appointment as the King's Royal Examiner, an early manifestation of an investigator of crime. Winter King introduces the pair, and the reader sees their love affair blossom, as Will attempts to uncover an assassin, before he can get to Henry. Each book takes you through another part of the turbulent times, and Will Draper is embroiled with plots against the crown, a royal kidnap, murder, and much more. Each crime has a backdrop of historical events, and the reader finds themself involved with the intricate plotting around the court. Harry Fitzroy, bastard son of the king goes missing, Queen Katherine is forced out of favour, Anne Boleyn insinuates herself into Henry's affections, and Thomas Cromwell is forced to deal with it all. He tries to please everyone, and even befriends the sly Boleyn clan, before realising that he must shift for himself. His great house- Austin Friars- is the focal point of intrigue, and the last bastion of hope. Cromwell must serve the king, but also wishes to bring England to a better place.Tudor Crimes is about people, and its exploration of the tudor psyche ranks alongside the best in historical fiction.