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A Queen's Spy : Tudor Historical Fiction - Murder, Mystery & Intrigue in 16th Century England - Perfect for fans of Rory Clements and S G MacLean (Richard Fitzwarren Tudor Historical Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Sam Burnell (Author), J.D. Palmer (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 1,977 ratings
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LONDON 1553 - King Edward Tudor is dead and now begins the bloody fight for the throne.

Religion, politics and principles collide in Tudor England in the Mercenary for Hire series. Follow Richard Fitzwarren’s adventures as this rebellious mercenary forges a path for himself while fighting to protect honour and justice.

The divide between Catholic Queen Mary and Anne Boleyn’s Protestant daughter, Princess Elizabeth, is deep, and her very existence is precarious as a direct threat to the queen. Sir Richard Fitzwarren, Princess Elizabeth’s long-time confidant, is the only man she can trust to save her. Yet he faces his own terrible dilemma: save Princess Elizabeth or take his traitorous brother’s life.

Buy ….. To enter the terrifying realm of Bloody Mary and the duplicitous Tudor court.
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  1. Book 1 of 9
    Richard Fitzwarren Tudor Historical
  2. Print length
    461 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    April 19, 2017
  6. File size
    1601 KB
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  8. Word Wise
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From the Publisher

An Epic Journey Through Renaissance Europe

Tudor Historical Fiction

London 1553

The fight for the throne begins

Editorial Reviews

Review

Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' FavoriteJack is the bastard son. Or so he's been told. But is he? Or is he really the true heir to the Fitzwarren estate? And would it even matter? It's the early sixteenth century: King Edward VI is on his deathbed; his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, is being used as a pawn to steal the throne when he does die; his sister, Mary, is waiting in the wings to take the crown and dispose of any who may oppose her; and another sister, Elizabeth, has her own plots brewing. It is a difficult time to be a noble, a difficult time to choose loyalties because being loyal to one royal means being a traitor to another. It's like playing cards and Jack is very good at cards, most of the time. His half-brother, Richard, is always taking the bigger gamble. Will it cost him his life in the end? Perhaps. For Jack, the bigger gamble is always whether or not to trust Richard, to even be associated with him in his lavish schemes of espionage.

Samantha Burnell's historical novel, A Queen's Spy: The Fitzwarren Trials, is a highly charged cloak and dagger mystery set in the troubling times that followed the reign of King Henry VIII, an era where siblings had only one goal in mind: seeking and maintaining their own power, even at the cost of family. With the death of King Edward VI, the action picks up and the plots thicken and interweave to make for a very realistic drama. Dialogue and descriptive narrative carry this story along and give the reader a sense of time and place. A thrilling and educational read.
A Queen's Spy - The Tudor Mystery Series - A dramatic and engaging read, historical fiction at it's best. Set in Tudor England with some of the greatest characters from history, Queen Elizabeth I, Henry VIII and now the Fitzwarren brothers. -
Northern Fiction Review.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B06ZZFBGNB
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ ; 2nd edition (April 19, 2017)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 19, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1601 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 461 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 1,977 ratings

About the author

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Sam Burnell

Sam Burnell

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Sam Burnell lives in the North East of England and has had a passion for history and archaeology all her adult life. Originally trained as a Solicitor, whilst studying for a law degree at Durham University she discovered a love for legal history. Various jobs followed, including researcher for a local museum, public sector audit work and finally now running her own successful scuba diving business both on-line and in a bricks and mortar store. During a career break a return to University was possible where she studied Archaeology, and Sam is never happier then when she's stood in a castle wondering what when and why and trying to unlock the secrets in the stones.

Sam Burnell's passion is the Tudor period, and her fiction is meticulously researched, and her historical fiction has the true flavour of the period. The Tudor period is replete with mystery and intrigue ready to be turned into entertaining fiction that also provides the reader with a greater insight into the history of the period.

'The Tudor Heresy,' serves as an introduction to Sam Burnell's Novel 'A Queen's Spy,' and provides an opener to the series and an introduction to the main characters in the series. The next book in the series, 'A Queen's Traitor,' will be available in September 2017.

Her favorite reading material would be Phillipa Gregory, CJ Sansom and Alison Weir, all Tudor historical fiction, and medieval mysteries and medieval fiction.

Sam Burnell loves to hear from her readers and if you have any comments please leave a review on Amazon, or email her at samburnell@hotmail.co.uk.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
1,977 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

DE Meier
5.0 out of 5 stars For those who love Tudor historical fiction
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2017
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As someone who loves historical fiction, especially the Phillipa Gregory series about Plantagenet and Tudor England, I was intrigued by how A Queen’s Spy has a new angle on the events after Henry VIII died. When people begin to realize that Edward, Henry’s young son, is on his deathbed, plots and schemes are not only in the halls of power but also in the trenches among those who made a living with their swords. The book tells of two brothers making their living as mercenaries in the service of whoever was willing to pay. As the battle for power between Mary and Elizabeth rages, the pressure increases for mercenaries trying to pick the right side. Drama in the story is heightened by the hatred among brothers and the bitterness that comes from one brother inheriting everything, while others have nothing but their wits and their fighting prowess. The lies and secrets about their father’s bastard adds mystery to the story. Samantha Burnell tells a good story and creates fascinating characters and settings with impressive historical detail. Her writing is truly special, with memorable lines like: “Fate is the excuse of the uninventive, the unimaginative, and the ignorant. I had no idea you are all three!”
19 people found this helpful
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NC2CA
4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing and captivating story of 1500 England
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2019
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Burnell does a masterful job creating strong characters during an early 1500 time period when England's throne, once again, is in turmoil. A great story of family challenged at its roots and of people who rise above themselves to do small yet significant things. A very well told story of life challenges and how they were met - and the importance of where you place your values. A solid, good read.
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pickyreader
3.0 out of 5 stars First-rate storytelling let down by sloppy editing
Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2021
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This review applies to the series (no summaries, no spoilers) .

That Sam Burnell is a talented storyteller is evidenced by the fact that I have read all the books to date in this series despite the grammar errors and typos on every page. The writer does not have a grip on the comma, the semicolon or the period, which means most of her paragraphs are choked with run-on sentences that the reader has to pick through. It's annoying, distracting and unnecessary. Is there an editor in the publication process? That is the bad news.

The good stuff is that her characters are fully fleshed and appealing. I'm always suckered into the next sloppy book because I want to know how Richard will extricate himself from disaster, will Jack find his way and what fates await Lilibet , Catherine, Emilio, Robert, et al. Adventures with these people progress apace. See my problem? I could only grant a rating of three stars because the writing was a drag on terrific storytelling. Recommend with reservation because I'm hoping this writer will up her technical game.
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Michael Hood
5.0 out of 5 stars Writing Style
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2019
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Move over Bernard Cornwell, Patrick O’Brian, and Ken Follet. Sam Burnell has combined great subject matter, research, writing and plot development to produce a contendor. I would describe her writing style as prose because it is elegant. The intrigue gets complex and several passeges required a review before I got it. I have a long list of purchased books, but I have moved them out of the way for her next ones. I liked the narrator of The Queen's Spy on Audible. His sofisticated cultured voice fit with the style which I suspected was from a female author. I found it to be a refreshing change from the male dominated list I mentioned. To be fair, Ken Follet writes from the female perspective masterfully, but Sam Burnell does more so, and it seemed appropriate because of the feminine leadership at the time. Who isn't an admirer of Queen Elizabeth? But how she rose to power in a male dominated world has been a mystery and as O’Brian would have said, “It was a near run thing”! There are a lot more gaps to fill but check out The Queens Spy for 1 piece of the puzzle.
22 people found this helpful
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Ian J. Miller
4.0 out of 5 stars Honourable treachery
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2017
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This is historical fiction, set in the times of the death of Edward VI and the turbulence leading to the succession of Mary I, and the dangers facing Elizabeth 1. The story mainly focuses on Jack, a bastard son of Fitzwarren. He has at least three half brothers, Robert, Harry and Richard who are legitimate, and probably some number of others like him. During the rather brutal attempt to get rid of Richard by Harry, Jack saves Richard and the two disappear off to France, only to re-emerge at the end of Edward's reign. Richard has to avoid Harry and Robert, as they want to kill him, and he has to choose sides in the struggle between those favouring Lady Jane Grey and those favouring Mary. Richard, not one to avoid risk, chooses both, and then adds Elizabeth. The problem then is to somehow stay alive.
The story is exciting, and it paints an excellent picture of how Burnell believes life was like for the lower ranking upper class, and the common soldier class. (I say that because nobody really knows, but it looks convincing.) The plot structure is more or less set to some extent by known events, but he adds in some convincing extras as Richard, and to some extent Jack and some other soldiers do what they have to do to be convincingly on whoever's side is on top at the moment. There were some editing blemishes that pulled his back from a five star rating. I do not mind a reasonable number of typos, but there were some sentences every now and again that jarred for me. One example:
[" . . . how's your head then?" Jamie said grinning after experiencing Jamie's capacity for drink.]
When reading this, it was not exactly clear to me what the author was trying to say. The characters are well drawn, except I am not convinced that they were adequate for the difficult tasks they undertook and there were some occasional places where there was, for me, a little confusion as to exactly how whatever happened. Otherwise, an excellent book that appears to lead on to a following one.
25 people found this helpful
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smokey
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Read
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2024
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I'm a hugh fan of historical fiction---------These books provide such information in a page turner fashion. I read one book in one day, not wanting to stop Sam Burnell writting provides the same intense read as Ken Follet's books. Information about England turing different time periods.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful exciting style
Reviewed in Canada on June 23, 2023
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Adventure is the name of the game for history buffs, such as me. The characters are believable. What an exciting time period it was, when Henry VIII died. The tragedy of Lady Jane Grey, Mary, and Elizabeth being used as pond on a chess board in the name of winner take all. However, these ladies are not the main characters but a group of ruffians are. Three brothers are involved in a life or death game. One is the heir who doesn't know he is the first born. One is the Queen's spy, thought to be the rightful heir and the third has been acknowledged as the heir who wants to kill the one who he believes to be the rightful heir. So it is plot within a plot and very fast paced. I am looking forward to reading the entire series.
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Gillian Wright
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling page turner.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2023
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An excellent read on one of my favourite periods in history. Brilliant story, fantastic characters, so well written you feel you know the characters personally. Books 3 - 5 on order!!!
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LindaK
5.0 out of 5 stars Guessing Games
Reviewed in Australia on February 12, 2023
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Wow very riveting story, containing plots within plots, a meandering of relationships & politics that keeps one guessing til the very end... Can't wait to begin the next one, but really - I need to do something other than read lol
One person found this helpful
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JG
4.0 out of 5 stars Good story with nice historical detail
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 18, 2024
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A good story that kept me gripped, with a distressing but likely accurate account of how easily people killed and were killed in those times. Good setting in the time of Mary and showing the relationship between her and Elizabeth. Some of the writing seemed a bit stilted with short introductory sentences for new scenes written in the passive tense, but I got used to it by the end. Will read the next one
One person found this helpful
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J.Marie
4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and well-written.
Reviewed in Canada on September 6, 2017
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A Queen's Spy is an engaging, well-written story.
Historical novels often have a multitude of characters and this one is no exception. It can be difficult to keep track of everyone and everything, but Burnell does such an incredible job, I found it easy to follow.
The author's descriptive prose is a delight and the characters and plot twists kept me intrigued until the very end. Recommended to fans of the genre or anyone interested in English history, especially in the Tudor period.
2 people found this helpful
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