Queens' Play - (Lymond Chronicles) by Dorothy Dunnett (Paperback)

About the Book

"Originally published in hardcover in Great Britain by Cassell & Company Ltd., London, and in the United States by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, in 1964." -- title page verso

Book Synopsis

Combining all the political intrigue of Game of Thrones with the sweeping romanticism of Outlander, Dorothy Dunnett's legendary Lymond Chronicles have enthralled readers for decades and amassed legions of devoted fans. This second book in the series finds Francis Crawford of Lymond embroiled in a dangerous game to prevent the assassination of Mary Queen of Scots.

Having miraculously cleared his name of charges of murder and treason, Francis Crawford of Lymond is hardly the type to settle down to a peaceful life. Instead he embarks on a secret mission to protect the Scottish queen, who, though still a little girl, is already the object of malicious intrigues. Embedding himself within the decadent French court, Lymond undertakes the most unlikely of masquerades to ensure that the young queen remains safe. But with his past weighing more heavily on Lymond than he would ever admit, he finds himself sinking a little too deeply into his devious disguise--and risks losing himself completely.

Review Quotes

"Expert entertainment. . . . Dunnett can describe a duel more convincingly than Dumas."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Dorothy Dunnett is a storyteller who could teach Scheherazade a thing or two about suspense, pace and invention."
--The New York Times

"[Lymond] is arguably the perfect romantic hero."
--The Guardian

"A masterpiece of historical fiction."
--The Washington Post

"Dorothy Dunnett is one of the greatest talespinners since Dumas . . . breathlessly exciting."
--Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Exciting, dangerous, fascinating."
--The Boston Globe

"Dunnett is a name to conjure with. Her work exemplifies the best the genre can offer."
--The Christian Science Monitor

"Ingenious and exceptional . . . its effect brilliant, its pace swift and colorful and its multi-linear plot spirited and absorbing."
--Boston Herald

"Dunnett evokes the sixteenth century with an amazing richness of allusion and scholarship, while keeping a firm control on an intricately twisting narrative. She has another more unusual quality . . . an ability to check her imagination with irony, to mix high romance with wit."
--Sunday Times (London)

"A very stylish blend of high romance and high camp. Her hero, the enigmatic Lymond, [is] Byron crossed with Lawrence of Arabia. . . . He moves in an aura of intrigue, hidden menace and sheer physical daring."
--Times Literary Supplement (London)

"With shrewd psychological insight and a rare gift of narrative and descriptive power, Dorothy Dunnett reveals the color, wit, lushness . . . and turbulent intensity of one of Europe's greatest eras."
--Raleigh News and Observer

About the Author

DOROTHY DUNNETT was born in Dunfermline, Scotland. She is the author of the Francis Crawford of Lymond novels; the House of Niccolò novels; seven mysteries; King Hereafter, an epic novel about Macbeth; and the text of The Scottish Highlands, a book of photographs by David Paterson, on which she collaborated with her husband, Sir Alastair Dunnett. In 1992 she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature. Lady Dunnett died in 2001.