Elizabeth I Mysteries Books In Order

Publication Order of Elizabeth I Books

Karen Harper is a historical fiction and contemporary fiction writer who was born on April 6, 1945. Her creativity and love for the Tudor time in her writing has led to her being named best seller by both USA today and the New York Times. Her books are most beloved because she is very keen in achieving historical accuracy and the fact that she really does know how to create suspense leaving the reader yearning for more and wanting to read all the books at once if they could. She was an English teacher in a high school in Florida and perhaps this explains why her books are so vivid and eye catching, on the other hand maybe it is the vast talent she holds in writing books that capture both attention and imagination of her readers.

The Elizabeth I mysteries are a series of historical fictional novels that follow the life of Elizabeth Tudor the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth has the dream like that of every other woman in her twenties- to find a good man who will sweep her off her feet and give her a lot of children then they can all live happily ever after. This series can be described as a cross between Elizabeth and Shakespeare in love, no kidding. Lie many of the fairy tales each girl has, not everything goes quite as planned. With the case of Elizabeth, her dilemma is brought out by her step sister Queen Mary I who has utter disdain for her and threatens to kill her.

Every reader who knows the history of Queen Elizabeth the first is at first very careful in reading the series, a justified endeavor given the fact that Elizabeth’s life was eventful enough the way she lived It. Reading through the book though, a reader is captured by the way Karen describes Elizabeth. Like in real life, the Fictional Elizabeth I is still short tempered and mistrustful. Karen writes her stories keenly so that she does not lose her reader along the way because these stories can get a little twisted and create a place where one is confused. Although some traits of Elizabeth I are portrayed as negative, she still has the heart and is truly loyal to those who are loyal to her. She cares a lot for people who show that they care for her, emotions that help the reader understand her better and qualities that bring out her true human qualities revealing that she, like everyone else, had reasons to mistrust and hate especially for the many deaths that occurred around her and the many times an attempt was made on her own life.

In her first book in the series, the poison garden, Karen takes you to the life of a 25 year old Elizabeth I in 1558. Her life is quite normal until her step sister Mary, who sits on the throne, is worried that there will be an uprising against her that will favor Elizabeth. For this reason she burns Elizabeth from the court and sends her to live in the country side where she is heavily guarded by a family appointed by Mary herself. Elizabeth does not really get to know her parents as much as she would love to and is very curious about them. So when she learns of a plot to kill her whole family in which her mother dies of poisoning, she is forced to take matters into her own hands and discover who is behind the killings. In her book Karen asks the reader to assume they know nothing about the life of the real Elizabeth Tudor only that she made history.

It is common knowledge that well behaved women rarely make history so to find out about the murder and make history, Elizabeth has to escape the watch of her guardians and go investigating. To really escape, she is forced to dress as a young man and go meet with her mother who is killed shortly after their meeting. To look for the real murders, solve the mystery and save her family, Elizabeth goes to back to her mother’s old home where she grew up. Will she be able to escape the watch of her guardian long enough to solve the mystery and uncover the dangerous plot? Will she be able to expose the real murder? And the really important question; who is he woman in the hood and why is she targeting her family?

This book takes the reader through the life or Elizabeth as It happens. Karen makes the reader shiver and just want to yell at Elizabeth that what she is doing is dangerous but ye still keep reading until the find out what happened in the end.

In her next book, the twilight tower, It is May of 1560, Elizabeth is already the Queen. The story really begins when the courts master lutenist falls to his death. Elizabeth first rules it as an accident caused by excessive drinking. All this because she has an infatuation for the married, young, ambitious and handsome Lord Robert Dudley. Her infatuation, Elizabeth is warned could cost her,her life or her crown and in the worst case scenario both of the above. She however does not want to listen and is more intent on the pleasures she is deriving from the feeling of having him close to her. Even though she continues to have the feeling as if she is being spied upon, she does not want to believe or do anything about it because it will ruin the pleasures she is experiencing. It is not until another death occurs that Robert approaches her to investigate that she begins to look keenly at the occurrences. Who could be this enemy trying to kill her? Why are they trying to kill her? Is it a member of her intimate circle who knows a lot of things about her?

In the Elizabeth I mysteries, the reader’s thoughts are provoked and one ends up wondering what it is Elizabeth is going to do and why she is always so moody.