Book Review: The French Orphan by Michael Stolle

 

The French Orphan

By Michael Stolle

The year is 1640, and Louis XIII is on the French throne. However, as far as you’re concerned, this is all pretty meaningless. After all, as a teenage orphan living in a monastery school in Reims, all you have to worry about is dodging the unpleasant advances of a few unsavoury monks and looking forward to a life of penniless and celibate servitude in a religious order.

“So the game can commence…And we shall make sure that there will be only one winner our Holy Mother, the Church…”

Cardinal Richelieu may well be as poisonous as a snake, but one cannot help but admire his obstinate determination to get the job done. But, be warned, when that determination is focused upon you, then it might be wise to start thinking about ordering your own tombstone.

Locked away in one of the most prestigious schools in France, Pierre’s most pressing concern is how to avoid the unwanted advances of the vile Brother Hieronymus. Pierre knows nothing of his past or his parents. He is resigned to the fact that he will spend the rest of his life in a monastery, like his best friend, Armand de Saint Paul. But unlike Armand, he will probably remain a lowly Brother, for he does not have wealth or privilege to expect anything more.

Armand, however, is not convinced by Pierre’s humble status. If Pierre was just another poor orphan boy, then how did he end up here? This is the school where the French nobility send their sons. Determined to discover the truth, Armand seeks answers, but what he finds will change the course of Pierre’s life and his own, forever…

From a conniving Cardinal to the grandeur of the French court of Louis XIII, The French Orphan by Michael Stolle is a book that swept me away in all of its brilliance.

With a vast cast of characters, a dramatic backdrop of two very different countries, and enough political intrigue to keep a reader turning those pages long into the night, The French Orphan has an awful lot to recommend it. This is a novel that captured my imagination in the prologue and continued to hold it right until the last full stop. Stolle has written a story in which realism is almost tangible. I did not read this book—I lived it. I was a part of it. I witnessed it. I lost track of time while I read this novel. I forgot where I was, who I was, even. When historical fiction is written in such a way, there is certainly no such thing as too much.

As I have already mentioned, there is a huge cast of characters in this novel, and Stolle even allows us to glimpse into the minds of some seemingly inconsequential members of the cast. When there are so many characters, so many points of view, it can be very easy for a reader to lose the thread. I always think it is a gamble to write in this way, but in this case, Stolle’s gamble has undoubtedly paid off because it made this novel all the richer. It also clearly demonstrates that Stolle has a novelist’s understanding of human nature—both the dark side and the light.

This novel is a tale of two kingdoms. In France, it is the Church who holds the reins, but in England, there is a battle brewing between the anointed king and his parliament. These troubled and conflicting times are the perfect setting in which to place Pierre and his friends. Coming from a closeted and controlled world to discovering freedom for the first time is a liberating experience for Pierre, and yet he does not stray from claiming what is legitimately his. Pierre is a young man of great honour, and yet there are moments when he stumbles, when he gets swept away by the events that are happening around him, which I thought made him realistic in the telling. But his inherent goodness makes him immensely likeable. Pierre is the kind of protagonist that a reader can easily get behind and root for. I thought Pierre’s portrayal was absolutely fabulous.

17th Century France—a time of romance, musketeers, and Cardinal Richelieu. Alexandre Dumas may well have immortalised the Cardinal in Les Trois Mousquetaires as a seemingly unstoppable villain, but there is so much more to the historical Cardinal Richelieu. The Red Eminence was a man who consolidated royal power and transformed France into a strong centralised state, but he was not, as I am sure he wished he were, infallible. Stolle introduces us to a Cardinal who is dying, but one who is determined to continue to hold the strings of those he wants to control and influence. The fear and the hatred that this man inspired, especially from the French aristocracy, is very easy to understand as this novel progresses. Still, his capability to govern, even when he was so ill, cannot be overlooked. I thought Stolle’s depiction of Cardinal Richelieu was brilliant—and it was precisely how I imagined him to be. He was someone who could manipulate events any way he wanted, and he always made sure that he, and the Church, came out on top, no matter what the outcome. To pen a good antagonist takes a great deal of skill and diligence, which is something that Stolle most certainly has. I really enjoyed reading about the Cardinal. 

With one eye on the historical controversy of the era and the other on what makes an enthralling read, Stolle has presented his readers with an unashamedly impressive book. Add to this the historical detail, the political uncertainly, and the influence of the Church during this period means that this novel is something very special indeed. The confident use of word building, the crystalline prose and the vibrant storytelling brought this era back to life in all of its splendour and, of course, its ugliness. France and England were two very different kingdoms—one had unwittingly submitted to Cardinal Richelieu, and the other found herself facing a battle with her own parliament. King Louis may have been happy to hand over the reins to Richelieu, King Charles, however, was not so easily persuaded by his parliament. The contrast between these two countries could not be more apparent, from the way it was governed, to the way the houses were furnished. I thought Stolle had captured the era and the fashions of both these countries during this time. The historical detailing of this book has to be not only commended but admired. The hours of research that have gone into this book are evident throughout.

As The French Orphan is the first book in the series, do not expect a tidy ending, for there is obviously far too much story to fit into one book. Thankfully, the following four books in the series are already published!

The French Orphan by Michael Stolle is an emotionally driven story that is not only bold in its delivery but extraordinarily successful. I cannot wait to get my hands on Book 2, so I can continue this incredible adventure with Pierre and his friends.

I Highly Recommend.

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The French Orphan

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Michael Stolle

Born and educated in Europe, Michael has always been intrigued by the historical setting and the fact that what makes us human was as true in the 17th century as it is now.

He has been reading and writing about history for longer than he cares to recall...

Connect with Michael:

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Book Title: The French Orphan

Series: The French Orphan, Book 1

Author: Michael Stolle

Publication Date: 8th December 2013

Edition: 2nd Edition

Publisher: Independently Published

Genre: Historical Fiction

Book Review: The Herald of Day (The Boar King’s Honor, Book 1) by Nancy Northcott

 

The Herald of Day

(The Boar King’s Honor, Book 1) 

By Nancy Northcott

 

A wizard’s fatal mistake

A king wrongly blamed for murder

A bloodline cursed until they clear the king’s name

In 17th-century England, witchcraft is a hanging offense. Tavern maid Miranda Willoughby hides her magical gifts until terrifying visions compel her to seek the aid of a stranger, Richard Mainwaring, to interpret them. A powerful wizard, he sees her summons as a chance for redemption.  He bears a curse because an ancestor unwittingly helped murder the two royal children known as the Princes in the Tower, and her message uses symbols related to those murders.

 

Miranda’s visions reveal that someone has altered history, spreading famine, plague, and tyranny across the land. The quest to restore the timeline takes her and Richard from the glittering court of Charles II to a shadowy realm between life and death, where they must battle the most powerful wizard in generations with the fate of all England at stake.

“If you would right a wrong, Sir Knight, see the serving maid at the Golden Swan Inn on the Folkestone road, outside Dover. Tell her a dragon called you the herald of day…”

It was hard to have magical powers when those around you executed such people. Miranda Willoughby tried her best to blend in, not to be noticed, to pretend she is something that she is not. To pretend she is ordinary. Always pretending. It might have been different if her mother had lived. Unfortunately, her mother had been accused of witchcraft—her life had been cut cruelly short on the end of a rope.

But then the visions came—frightening in their intensity. Due to her mother’s premature death, Miranda does not possess the skills needed to interpret these visions. She needs help. She needs the knight in her vision—the knight who will fight the red dragon and defend the white boar. 

Sir Richard Mainwaring, Earl of Hawkstowe, knew all about keeping secrets. For years his family had hidden their true allegiance—Loyalty binds me. They had fought under the banner of the white rose, not the red. However their family had also been cursed. It was a curse which Richard had long given up hoping would ever be lifted. However, the appearance of the dragon and the incomprehensible wrongness in the air warned of a threat yet known, let alone understood. Richard had no choice but to obey the dragon. He would go to the Golden Swan Inn and present himself to this serving maid, whoever she was. Little did he know that Miranda was more than a witch whose talents had yet to be explored. She also saw the future, a future which cannot be allowed to come to pass.

It soon becomes apparent that someone is going back in time and manipulating events. But who was it, and what did they want? Only together will Richard and Miranda find the answers they are seeking…

There are books, and then there is Herald of Day (The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy, Book 1) by Nancy Northcott. Do you like historical fiction? This book will tick that box. Do you like alternate history? Sorcery? The paranormal? Romance? Good versus evil? I could go on. The Herald of Day ticks every single box. It is a monumental work of scholarship, but above everything else, it is one of the most successful novels that I have ever read.

The narrative is enthralling—this is quite a long book, but time ceased to matter because I was completely captivated by this story. It is immensely readable and, more importantly, very enjoyable. Northcott has a novelist’s intuition for what makes history worth reading. And on top of that, there is enough adrenaline in this book to keep a reader up all night. I cannot even begin to describe how brilliant this novel is.

The amount of planning that has gone into this story has to be commended. I have read my fair share of alternative historical fiction, but this novel is in a league of its own, and I don’t say that lightly. Northcott begins by presenting her readers with a very realistic 17th Century setting with all the key players in the English court in place, and then her antagonist goes back in time and changes history and only those who are gifted notice the devastating consequences of the antagonist’s actions. By changing time, there are historical people as well as fictitious ones who are alive who should be dead and vice versa. Events that should have happened no longer have, and events that should not have happened, do. This story is a complicated web of what-ifs and maybes, running alongside actual historical fact. Northcott takes 191 years of English history, the reign of nine monarchs, as well as the Commonwealth, into account as she penned this remarkable book. The attention to the historical fact, and not forgetting the attention to the alternative historical detail, is staggering. This book isn’t some romantic dream of a different historical reality where the hero lives and the villain dies, which is so often the case with such books. The delivery of this story is somehow plausible. This alternative history has credibility. It comes across as authentic in the telling. The what-if becomes why not? I cannot think of another author who has written an alternative history novel with such skill and diligence. Bravo, Ms Northcott, for your time and attentiveness has undoubtedly paid off. 

Miranda is a character that I instantly connected with. She is a very humble young woman who has been dealt a cruel hand and, to top it all, she is all alone in the world. Miranda is gifted, but she lacks the training. The controversial and terrifying realities of the witch hunts that stain the Stuart's reign is played out in all of its darkness and misunderstanding in this tale and Miranda is at the very centre of it. At the very beginning of this book, Miranda watches a woman executed for witchcraft—a woman who Miranda knows is not a witch. She desperately wants to help, but by doing so, she would expose herself for who she really is, and that is someone who is incredibly gifted with magic. To stand there and not be able to do anything is torture for someone who is overflowing with empathy. This opening scene sets the tone for this character. Her compassion is perhaps a greater gift than her magic.

Miranda goes on quite a journey in this novel, and she faces many dangerous situations. But it is her relationship with Richard that fascinated me the most. Richard shows her a world that she could never have imagined in her wildest dreams. He also challenges her, and Miranda rises to that challenge every time. She is an inspirational character who I adored.

Richard, oh my goodness, he is the epitome of a very heroic, courageous person. His self-sacrifice and his desperate desire to right any wrongs make him extremely likeable. But he is no caricature. He is no fairy-tale knight. He is fallible—he makes mistakes, which I thought made his character all the more appealing. I thought his depiction was absolutely fabulous, and he really drove this story on.

The magical composition of the prose makes this a book that is not only utterly compelling but also wholly unforgettable. This is a novel that keeps on giving. Add to that the paranormal and you suddenly find yourself reading a story that is next to impossible to put down. This is a book that I could not wait to get back to. I loved everything about it.

The Herald of Day (The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy, Book 1) by Nancy Northcott is one of the top five books that I have read this year. I could have happily read another thousand pages of this book, and I would not have grown weary of it. It is absolutely brilliant from beginning to end—a priceless masterpiece that deserves a place on your bookshelf and in your heart.

I Highly Recommend

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The Herald of Day

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Nancy Northcott

 

Nancy Northcott’s childhood ambition was to grow up and become Wonder Woman.  Around fourth grade, she realized it was too late to acquire Amazon genes, but she still loved comic books, science fiction, fantasy, history, and romance.

 

Nancy earned her undergraduate degree in history. Her favorite part of her course work was a summer spent studying Tudor and Stuart England at the University of Oxford. She has given presentations on the Wars of the Roses and Richard III to university classes studying Shakespeare’s play about that king. In addition, she has taught college courses on science fiction, fantasy, and society.

 

The Boar King’s Honor historical fantasy trilogy combines Nancy’s love of history and magic with her interest in Richard III. She also writes traditional romantic suspense, romantic spy adventures, and two other speculative fiction series, the Light Mage Wars paranormal romances and, with Jeanne Adams, the Outcast Station space mystery series.

 

Reviewers have described her books as melding fantasy, romance, and suspense. Library Journal gave her debut novel, Renegade, a starred review, calling it “genre fiction at its best."

 

Connect with Nancy:

 

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads.

Publication Date: 20th May 2020

Publisher: Falstaff Books 

Page Length: 356 pages

Genre: Historical Fantasy / Time-Travel

Book Review: The Cry of the Lake by Charlie Tyler

 

The Cry of the Lake

By Charlie Tyler

A gruesome discovery unravels a dark trail of murder and madness.

A six-year-old girl sneaks out of bed to capture a mermaid but instead discovers a dead body. Terrified and unable to make sense of what she sees, she locks the vision deep inside her mind.

Ten years later, Lily is introduced to the charismatic Flo and they become best friends. But Lily is guilt-ridden – she is hiding a terrible secret which has the power to destroy both their lives.

When Flo’s father is accused of killing a schoolgirl, the horrors of Lily’s past come bubbling to the surface. Lily knows that, whatever the consequences, she has to make things right. She must go back to the events of her childhood and face what happened at the boat house all those years ago.

Can Lily and Flo discover what is hiding in the murky waters of the lake before the killer strikes again?

“Once again, she was Emily and I was Cassie and, in that moment, I could hear my heart thudding. I didn’t want to go back there…”

Lilly had been a difficult child. A troubled child. A disruptive child. Now she survived on a concoction of medication to keep the dark thoughts away. But what no one knew was that Lilly was living in her own personal nightmare. It is a nightmare so unimaginable that it had robbed her of her voice.

The dream was always the same. It was always a mermaid — a beautiful face looking up at her from beneath the surface of the water. But there was something wrong with this mermaid. Something terribly wrong.

At least Lilly now had a friend in Flo. They had even made arrangements for the summer holidays. Lilly knew it was a ridiculous thing to do. She knew that by the summer everything would have changed and she would never see Flo again. For Grace, Lilly's sister, had plans of her own, and she would stop at nothing to see those plans through to the very bitter end…

From a horrific murder to the discovery of a terrifying truth, The Cry of the Lake is the chillingly gripping debut novel by Charlie Tyler.

Tyler certainly knows how to pen a tautly enthralling story. With a touch of the paranormal and a large helping of suspense, Tyler has presented her readers with a book that is next to impossible to put down.

Like a sophisticated drama, this novel envelops the reader into a world that is familiar and yet terribly foreign. The atrocious acts of mental and physical abuse that are played out in a theatre of horrors can, at times, make for some truly harrowing reading. But Tyler has a novelist’s intuition of when to draw back, when to give her readers a sense of normality. I felt that this back and forth between everyday activities and appalling acts of violence, gave this book authenticity. There are also moments of light-hearted humour, which reminds the reader of what is really at stake.

Tyler has decided to use three very different perspectives throughout this novel, which I thought was not only brilliantly planned but masterfully executed. It not only lets us get into the mind of a murderer and a victim of abuse, but it also allowed us to watch the events from an outsider's perspective. This approach makes the reader feel a part of the story.

Grace is a coldly calculating character, who hides her violent intentions behind a veil of middle-class sophistication. Her sly, manipulative nature conceals her murderous thoughts, and her intelligence makes her an incredibly dangerous woman. Grace is a very unsettling character who murders without empathy and who seemingly lacks all compassion. Her failure to control her fits of jealousy as an adolescent, and the consequences of that jealousy, give the reader an insight into a distraught and extremely troubled mind. Tyler further emphasises this by Grace’s inability to comprehend the damage she is doing, not only to herself but to her sister as well. Throughout this novel, Grace is the one in control, but she is so wrapped up in her need for revenge—a revenge that makes sense only to her—that she fails to see the truth. Tyler has presented her readers with a very frightening antagonist who is determined to achieve her aims no matter what the cost. I thought Grace’s depiction was unnervingly disturbing, and yet it is her obsession and her determination that drove this story forward. 

Lilly’s mental health issues make her especially vulnerable to her sister’s abuse. Lilly is a teenager trapped in a vicious circle of abuse, which she can see no way out of. The trauma of her childhood, the systematic abuse, both physically and mentally, is hidden under a mixture of drugs, which is something her sister uses to her advantage, especially if Lilly displeases her. Grace, who controls every aspect of Lilly’s life, withholds her medication, allowing the demons of her past to haunt her. Lilly knows that what Grace is doing is wrong, she knows that this isn’t how it is meant to be, but she is trapped, and because she has a history of psychological illness, thanks to Grace, Lilly believes that no professional would believe her story anyway. By refusing to speak, Lilly has found a way to ensure self-preservation, but she has also given Grace complete control. I thought Lilly’s portrayal was superb. The abuse Lilly has to go through, but the courage she finds from deep within her made this story utterly unforgettable. 

The third character that takes up the story is Flo. Flo is in the unique position of looking in. Like everyone else, she is completely taken in by Grace, but as this novel progresses, she begins to realise that things are not as they seem. Flo’s journey towards discovering the truth is thwarted with obstacles and setbacks, but she is confident enough to listen to her intuition. Her persistent determination to clear her father’s name and to find the real culprit in this terrible crime makes her a protagonist that a reader can get behind and root for. I thought Flo’s depiction was absolutely fabulous. I was willing Flo on, waiting for the penny to drop, for Flo to realise exactly what was going on.

Tyler’s careful use of foreshadowing at the beginning of the book really helps to hook the reader. But why I think this novel is so wildly successful is not only in its delivery but also in its momentum. From the opening sentence the reader is thrown straight into the action and, instead of slowing down, the narrative seems to speed up. I could not read the words fast enough. I could not turn the pages quickly enough. This is a story that I could not leave—like an obsession, I had to know how it would end. If you love novels with enough suspense and tension to keep you reading all night, then this is the book for you.

I cannot even begin to describe how successful The Cry of the Lake by Charlie Tyler is. This is a novel that is an absolute delight for readers of quality fiction. It is beautifully written and wholly unforgettable. I cannot wait to read more books by this talented author.

I Highly Recommend

 

Pick up your copy of

The Cry of the Lake

Amazon

 

Charlie Tyler

Charlie signed with Darkstroke in May 2020 and The Cry of the Lake is her debut novel.

Charlie is very much a morning person and likes nothing more than committing a fictional murder before her first coffee of the day.  She studied Theology at Worcester College, Oxford and now lives in a Leicestershire village with her husband, three (almost grown-up) teenagers, golden retriever and tortoise.

Connect with Charlies: Website • Facebook • Twitter • Instagram.

Book Review: The Queen's Devil (A William Constable Spy Thriller Book #3) By Paul Walker

 

The Queen's Devil

 A William Constable Spy Thriller Book #3

By Paul Walker

 

1583.

 

William Constable, recently married astrologer and mathematician, has settled into routine work as a physician when he is requested to attend two prisoners in the Tower of London. Both are accused of separate acts treason, but their backgrounds suggest there may be a connection.

Sir Francis Walsingham and Lord Burghley urge William to discover further intelligence from the prisoners while tending their injuries from torture.

 

The agent's investigations lead him to the French Embassy, which lies at the heart of a conspiracy which threatens the nation.

 

Through his enquiries, an unsuspecting William becomes entangled in a perilous web of politicking and religious fervour.

 

The threat comes from one the most powerful men in the English court – one referred to as the Queen’s Devil.

 

William faces a race against time to unpick these ties, climaxing in a daring raid on the Embassy.

 

 

“I am Sir Peter Gibbyn with a royal warrant for your arrest and examination.”

 

Those are the words that no man wanted to hear. Nor did they want to see the inside of the Tower. But when one conspires against her Majesty and is unfortunately caught...

 

Doctor William Constable is a scholar of astrology and physics, but in recent years he has settled down to the life of a physician. It seemed like another lifetime when he was last called into the service of spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham.

 

And yet, Sir Francis has not forgotten him. William is ordered to go to the Tower and attend to the medical needs of two of its prisoners, and by doing so, he is to gain their trust in the hope that kindness, after torture, will loosen their tongues.

 

What William learns from these men sets him on a collision course with the illustrious Earl of Leicester.

 

The Earl will stop at nothing to retain his position and ensure that the secrets of his past will stay in the past, forever...

 

The Queen's Devil: A William Constable Spy Thriller Book #3 by Paul Walker is as impressive as it is dramatic. With a keen sense of time and place, Walker has presented his readers with another emotionally enthralling thriller in A William Constable Spy Thriller series. Having enjoyed the first two books immensely, I was looking forward to catching up with my favourite scholar, physician and very reluctant spy! By the end of the first page, I was back in this astonishingly complicated world of Elizabethan politics and intrigue.

 

Doctor William Constable is a character that I have really come to care about, and he has gone through quite a lot for spymaster Walsingham. But in this novel, Walsingham's influence is failing, as is his health, and there is a new man who holds the attention of the Queen. William finds himself in the most perilous of situations, and there is more than his own life on the line. He has to find a solution to his predicament or those he loves will suffer most terribly. With careful use of foreshadowing, Walker prepares his readers for a thrilling romp around the streets of London. He introduces the highest in society and also the lowliest. Not forgetting of course, the Church, who was so intent upon its bloodlust that they were more than willing to listen and act upon slanderous lies. Likewise, if their patron was wealthy enough, then, the Church would forgo its teachings and accept those 30 pieces of silver with greedy, grabbing, grasping hands. Through his carefully crafted prose and an equally beguiling narrative, Walker has demonstrated most admirably the depth that some men were willing to go to in their desperate desire to keep their position and their good name.

  

The hero of this fabulous story, Doctor William Constable, is a man of honour but also understanding. He is a very loyal man who finds himself thrust in a situation that he would have, if he had been given the choice, avoided at all costs. His disgust at seeing the terrible plight of the prisoners who have been so brutally tortured is increased twofold by the realisation that they are going to be subjected to a cruel death despite his careful ministrations. His reluctance to spy is evident throughout this book, but he does not have a choice. He is as trapped as the prisoners are — his fate is no longer his own. I thought William's depiction was fabulous. Here is a character that a reader can really get behind and root for.

 

We meet many historical figures in this novel, but the antagonist of this story is one that spends the majority of the book hidden in the shadows. It is his men and his influence that causes a great deal of grief for our intrepid protagonist. Nevertheless, it is Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester that drives the narrative of this novel forward. The power and influence that Leicester had is portrayed brilliantly. This was a man that even Walsingham would not go up against. I thought Walker captured the reality of not only how much Leicester was despised because of his position, but also the length that Leicester was prepared to go to, to maintain his position as the Queen's favourite.

 

This is a period in history where religion and superstition clashed with science. And despite this being a period of great learning and understanding, there was a renewed belief in the supernatural and witchcraft. No longer were miracles seen as a gift from God, but a curse from the Devil. Walker has explored this era with a tenacious understanding of not only the power and corruption of the Church but also the complicated social structure of Elizabethan England. This was a time when men of science began to question the authority of the Church by their findings, and that could not be allowed. By introducing us to historical figures such as Giordano Bruno, Walker has brought vividly to life the fine line that men like Bruno trod between science and heresy, and he also demonstrates the duplicity of those who one might have considered as colleagues in this voracious quest for knowledge and understanding of the world and the universe. This was a dangerous time for philosophers and theorists who, by daring to discuss their discoveries, or even publish them now that the printing press made mass production possible, put their lives into the hands of those who would see them hang. This complex world of new ideas, and reawaken superstitions is portrayed with a dash of remarkable realism, which made this book tautly gripping.

 

The Queen's Devil is an absolutely riveting story that one would willingly forgo sleep to finish. As it sped headlong towards the climactic ending where glory and despair shared the same breath, Walker reminds his readers about the dangers of this era, but he also demonstrates the unfailing loyalty of a few good friends who willingly risk everything for a physician who was dragged into a complex and dangerous political game of power and wealth.

 

The Queen's Devil by Paul Walker is a work of flawless historical scholarship. It is also a thrilling read that keeps the reader turning those pages until that final full stop. This is the kind of book that deserves not only a place on your bookshelf, but it is also one that demands to be read again and again. It is an impressively dramatic story, and one that I cannot praise enough.

 

I Highly Recommend.

 

 

 

Pick up your copy of

The Queen's Devil

Amazon UK • Amazon US

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Paul Walker

Paul is married and lives in a village 30 miles north of London. Having worked in universities and run his own business, he is now a full-time writer of fiction and part-time director of an education trust. His writing in a garden shed is regularly disrupted by children and a growing number of grandchildren and dogs.

 

Paul writes historical fiction. He inherited his love of British history and historical fiction from his mother, who was an avid member of Richard III Society. The William Constable series of historical thrillers is based around real characters and events in the late sixteenth century. The first two books in the series - State of Treason and A Necessary Killing - were published in 2019. The third book, titled The Queen's Devil, was published in the summer of 2020.

 

Connect with Paul:

Twitter • Facebook • Amazon Author Page.