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Elizabeth Fremantle

The Poison Bed Paperback – 7 September 2021

by Elizabeth Fremantle (Author)

23 ratings

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A spellbinding thriller set in the Jacobean Court of 1615 surrounding a famed couple imprisoned on suspicion of murder--but was it Lord Robert or Lady Frances who committed the crime?

A marriage. A murder. One of them did it. Which of them will die for it?

In the autumn of 1615, scandal rocks the Jacobean court, when a celebrated couple, Robert and Frances Carr, are imprisoned on suspicion of murder. Frances is young, captivating, and from a notorious family. She has been rescued from an abusive marriage by Robert, and is determined to make a new life for herself. Whatever the price.

Robert is one of the richest and most famous men in the kingdom. He has risen from nothing to become one of the country's most powerful men. But to get to the top, you cannot help making enemies.

Some believe she is innocent; others think her wicked or insane. He claims no knowledge of the murder. The king suspects them both, though it is his secret at stake. Now a man is dead. And someone must pay with their life.

Who is telling the truth? Who has the most to lose? And who is willing to commit murder?

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Product details

Paperback : 416 pages
ISBN-10 : 164313597X
ISBN-13 : 978-1643135977
Publisher : Pegasus Crime (7 September 2021)
Language: : English

Customer Reviews:
23 ratings

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Review

"A riveting tale, giving us a new take on an old mystery, with her unique, accomplished skill. Her characters live, an age is evoked, and the story surges on with vivid pace. I cannot recommend this highly enough."--Alison Weir, New York Times bestselling author "Mystery Scene"

"A thoroughly compelling tale of sexually-charged intrigue and murder. Once started, impossible to put down."--Minette Walters "Publishers Weekly (starred)"

"A Jacobean Gone Girl--dark and deeply satisfying, The Poison Bed is a tale of monstrous intrigue and murder."--Miranda Carter, author of George, Nicholas, and Wilhelm "Mystery Scene"

"Deliciously sinister. A toxic blend of glamour, intrigue, and ambition."--Andrew Taylor, author of The Fire Court "Mystery Scene"

"Engaging. The novel's depiction of the Jacobean age has the vivid, cleverly constructed and always faintly unreal quality of a stage set."-- "New York Times Book Review"

"Fremantle has taken the love story of Lady Frances Howard and Robert Carr in 1615 England and made it indelible. Fremantle's gift is in reimagining the emotions and circumstances of Frances and Robert. Will stick with you long after you turn the last page."--Minette Walters "Mystery Scene"

"Fremantle is one of the most electric writers working in the historical space today."-- "CrimeReads"

"Gripping and fascinating. Fremantle is a master."--Santa Montefiore, author of The Daughters of Ireland "Mystery Scene"

"Like all the best writers of historical thrillers, Elizabeth Fremantle weaves together documented fact with sensitively imagined fiction to create a novel that helps us understand a time and place better. It doesn't matter if you guess whodunit, early or late. The tale is in the telling, and so is the readerly enjoyment. If your idea of a great summer read is closer to The Miniaturist than Gone Girl, I highly recommend The Poison Bed."-- "NPR"

"Rich in historical detail. Bound to please fans of court intrigue."-- "Booklist"

About the Author

Elizabeth Fremantle is the acclaimed author of Sisters of Treason, Queen's Gambit, and Watch the Lady, and she has contributed to Vogue, the Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, and the Sunday Times (London). She lives in London.

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Violeta Perez

Interesting book!

Reviewed in the United States on 25 February 2020

Verified Purchase

Great book! The ending was terrible, and I didn't like King James, he was horrible with everyone especially with young men, he was a perv!

Kindle Customer

Very Captivating Book

Reviewed in the United States on 11 July 2019

Verified Purchase

I love the twists in this work and all together love all of her books. Such a great way to bring history alive!

Laurence R. Bachmann

Little or no historical research

Reviewed in the United States on 18 November 2018

Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )

Elizabeth Fremantle hasn't bothered to inform herself in the least about Jacobean court manners or habits. To whit, in the first 25 pages of The Poison Bed the author has King James I in his apartments with Richard Carr, courtier and apparent boy-toy, preparing him for a tuck-in. During their exchange, the royal squeeze prepares, lights and smokes a pipe in-between kisses with his king. Had she made the most cursory Wiki search Fremantle would have discovered "A Counterblaste to Tobacco" one of the most vituperative attacks against smoking ever made and written 10 years earlier than the period when our tale begins. By whom you ask? Why King James I the monarch who is getting smoke blown in his face whilst he French-kisses Richard Carr! This passivity by a man who regarded himself as God's infallible representative on earth. The annointed of God's Will, apparently put up with any disgusting indignity to canoodle with a cutie. A snippet for your perusal, but the last sentence says it all:

"Have you not reason then to bee ashamed, and to forbeare this filthie noveltie, so basely grounded, so foolishly received and so grossely mistaken in the right use thereof? In your abuse thereof sinning against God, harming your selves both in persons and goods, and raking also thereby the markes and notes of vanitie upon you: by the custome thereof making your selves to be wondered at by all forraine civil Nations, and by all strangers that come among you, to be scorned and contemned. A custome lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmefull to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs, and in the blacke stinking fume thereof, neerest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomelesse".

No James wasn't railing against homosexuality which he may or may not have indulged in, he was railing against smoking! That both author and editors could make so colossal a blunder sparked my curiosity. (There are plenty of other mistakes--estranged Earl's and Countesses don't ask each other to "pass the bread" to make small talk during dinner--they have servants for that). What, I wondered were Fremantle's sources if she missed details both great and small? Under Author's Notes just a single book is mentioned as a source--a stunning lack of historical interest and indifference. Unsurprisingly then, the Poison Bed is littered with presentism--independent women with modern sensibilities, sexually obsessed men in their thrall (who also get ahead by courting their monarch) or possibly murdering former male lovers who might make waves. A regular Roman bacchanalia, those Stuarts. Mind this is the period when Puritans and Calvinists were ascendent and most empowered to contest religious laxity or moral turpitude. .

Worst of all is the structure of dual narrators--Him and Her--Frances and Richard telling their tale or conning their con. It's taken I suppose from Gone Girl that awful clunker that found a huge audience and had publishers swooning and salivating for more ever since. I would gladly acknowledge they've found it in The Poison Bed which has much in common with that stilted stinker from five years ago--wooden dialogue, padded writing and a very modern sensibility. The reader though was promised historical fiction. Both author and publisher have failed completely to deliver anything worthy of the name. Under Acknowledgments the author claims she is so pleased by the design that she gladly have her book judged by its cover. Very wise, Ms. Fremantle. The content is awful.

20 people found this helpful

Susan Johnson

Disappointing

Reviewed in the United States on 20 December 2018

Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )

2.5 stars

This is an interesting book if you are looking for sexual misadventures in King James I times. If you are looking for historical accuracy or good writing, this would not be the book for you. According to the author's epilogue, she spent an amazing amount of time in research by reading ONE book. Wow! The book is riddled with historical inaccuracies and improbabilities. Told by a husband and a wife in alternating chapters, it concerns the murder of the husband's friend, Thomas, while he is incarcerated in the Tower of London.

The husband, Robin Carr, and supposedly King James' favorite boy toy. He becomes infatuated by Frances Howard and moves mountains to have her including a divorce, a murder, influence selling and other tawdry acts. One of the couple is one of the stupidest people on earth and one is one of the vilest. What a match up. There's literally nothing these two won't do to get ahead including a really gross threesome.

The alternating chapters are fine but the author goes between first and third person within the same chapter and that is disconcerting. I believe there used to be copy editors in the book publishing world but apparently that position no longer exists. I think of all the great books that wouldn't have existed without a great copy editor like To Kill A Mockingbird and mourn the loss of that position in the book publishing world. This book could have used a guiding hand or ten.

This could have been a really interesting story if it had been researched, better written and read less like a story from The National Enquirer. As it is, it is a disappointment.

12 people found this helpful

Nitty's Mom

Dangerously addicting

Reviewed in the United States on 21 November 2018

Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )

The three P’s best depict The Poison Bed…..Power, Passion and Poison. The Poison Bed takes place in the Jacobean Court of James I, but the jockeying for power among rival families who want to advance their standing in the king’s favor, reads like a modern day thriller. Based on fact, this meticulously detailed historical fiction, is the author's take on the events surrounding the imprisonment of Frances Howard and her husband Robert Carr. The two stand accused of poisoning Sir. Thomas Overbury, who was once Robert Carr’s mentor and eventually becomes a hindrance in their hopes to marry. The chapters alternate between Frances and Robert as we learn what lead to their incarceration and their fall from grace.

Both characters are seriously flawed, however, as we come to learn some of it is out of necessity. Robert was an orphan, who parlayed his looks and charisma to become the king’s favorite. As his fortunes continue to rise, so did his passion for the already married Frances and his reliance on her unscrupulous and powerful great-uncle. In Frances’ defense, aristocratic woman were used to the betterment of their families with no say over their future. Are our narrators reliable and will they make it out of the Tower with all their sins and faults of the past?

The Poison Bed is historical fiction with rich period details, nuanced characters and some surprising twists and turns, that makes for a thoroughly binge worthy read. Perhaps, a rudimentary knowledge of English History might be helpful, however, all know that we have not seen the last of the unscrupulous Howard family.

4 people found this helpful

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