Rating: 
Summary: The Queen's Man-Enjoyable Light Reading
Review: While I am aware that the author has a reputation for historically accurate "fiction;" if you are looking for historical accuracy in this book I believe that you are missing the point. This is a mideval mystery, it's not intended to be historically accurate. If you enjoy fast-paced light reading with a plot you'll like this book.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable way to discover history
Review: Sharon Kay Penman's The Queens Man was the first of her books that I have read and I will certainly read more of her novels. I enjoyed this book and was impressed with the ammount of research put into this book.Penman mixes mystery, murder, romance and history in The Queen's Man. Justin, the main character of the book, leaves his home, an abbey, to seek his fortune in the world. During his trip he comes upon some men who are robbing a man and Justin tries to save him only to make the dying man a promise to deliver a secret letter to the Queen. Justin is able to gain an audience with Queen Elanor who is mourning the sure death of her favorite son, Richard and trying to save the throne from her other scheming son John. She pulls Justing into her service to discover who murdered the man that was to deliver her the letter. As Justin is hunting for a killer he must learn who to trust and how to solve the case. While this is not your traditional mystery, Penman has done a wonderful job of trying to transport the reader to ye old England. Aside from a few annoying colloquialisms, she does a fine job. I was pulled along trhough the book and will certainly read more of Penman's novels as her writing is strong as are her characters and plots. This is the perfect novel for those who enjoy historical mysteries and even for those readers that tend to get bogged down with too much historcal information as the plot is trong enough without having to know too much. A Fun and interesting read!
Rating:
Summary: Not the best but quite good.
Review: Not quite up to the work of other medieval mysteries, such as those by Candace Robb and Caroline Roe, but still a good read. I found her characters realistic and enjoyable. Her setting gives a good sense of time and place.
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Summary: Medieval setting aside, it's still a dreary crime novel
Review: THE QUEEN'S MAN is well researched, indifferently plotted, and poorly written. Misleadingly labeled a "mystery," it is in fact a rather humdrum crime story that happens to have a medieval setting. I came to this book in an unusual way; I am not a crime fiction fan, nor have I read any of Penman's other books. Instead, I was planning myself to write some short fiction about King Richard the Lion-Heart's time, and I wanted to see how another fiction writer had portrayed it. For my purposes, the book is useful; for entertainment, THE QUEEN'S MAN is not much good. The story takes place in England, in the year 1193. Penman follows the tracks of Justin de Quincy, a bishop's illegitimate son, who happens across a murder on a country road. The dying victim carries two letters for the Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine; with his last breaths, he begs Justin to deliver these letters to her. The letters inform the Queen that her son, Richard the Lion-Heart, has been captured and held for ransom by the Holy Roman Emperor. Fearing that the courier's murder signals a coup plot by Richard's scheming brother John, Queen Eleanor orders Justin to find out who hired the killers. THE QUEEN'S MAN is not a classical mystery. True mystery fiction engages the readers' minds by placing before them all the clues that the sleuth will use to solve the crime; part of its challenge and appeal lie in trying to parallel the crime-solver's thought and identify the culprit for oneself. This does not happen in THE QUEEN'S MAN; the readers have literally no chance, however gifted they may be, to solve the crime for themselves. The answer is simply dropped in their laps at the end. This is no mystery, just a crime story. Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with writing a crime story that is not a mystery. Ed McBain writes police procedurals that often have little or no mystery element, and are still very good stories. But Penman's book is a collection of vignettes, loosely connected with one another and generally dry and uninteresting. Justin spends most of the book shuttling back and forth between Winchester and London with no clear idea of what he is doing. In fact, the whole plot could very well have occurred in almost the same way without him. But the unengaging plot is more a symptom than a cause of the book's worst problem: it's just a bad read. Penman's prose is dim, abstract, and abounds in musty-smelling old phrases. For example, when Justin first sees St. Paul's Cathedral, Penman can find no better description than that old chestnut, the spire which soars "halfway to Heaven." Two lovers light a "fire in the bed" - too coyly for my taste. Penman is a lawyer by training, and from personal experience I can say that lawyering deadens its practitioners' prose. The law thrives on bromides, on "magic words" that must be invoked with as little deviation as possible lest fresh new phrases fail to bring about the desired reflex action from the judge. Also, lawyers are trained to lead jurors by the nose to the desired conclusion; this may be why Penman puts a conclusory "postscript paragraph" at the end of many of her scenes, instructing the readers on how to interpret the facts of the scene, where the facts themselves may allow a number of different explanations, including some that are contrary to the conclusions Penman wishes her readers to draw. All this is not to say that lawyers can't overcome the effects of their training - John Grisham writes fine prose - but Penman's legal background does appear to have damaged her style. Penman's book is somewhat redeemed by good character development. The lead actors are painted in broad strokes, without great attention to detail, but they do appear in vivid hues. Nell, Durand de Curzon, Jonas, Luke de Marston, and Claudine de Loudun are all memorable people; if I don't get to know them as well as I might, I at least find them interesting enough to want to know them better. Penman even makes a lasting impression with a character who appears in just one scene: Job the leper. Only Eleanor of Aquitaine bothered me; she is made out as a bit of a soft touch, not likely for a veteran of the Plantagenet family wars and intrigues. Penman's historical research is also impressive; at every turn she shows how law, custom, and politics worked in 12th-century England with a sharp eye for detail. She describes traveling accommodations, food, feasts and holydays with assiduous accuracy; if her stale prose keeps the readers from feeling they are there, they can still learn a lot about medieval life. The only false note that I detected is her description of trial by ordeal and trial by jury as if they were an either-or proposition; the two were actually used together at that time, with the case being submitted to the jury first, and then the ordeal of iron or water being used if the jury found the defendant guilty. But I would never have noticed that mistake if I hadn't been researching the era for weeks. I would recommend this book only to hard-core medieval history buffs. Mystery fans should find it forgettable at best, if not outright annoying. I suspect that Penman's other books are better written than this; she has a following, and writers do not acquire followings by writing this kind of unpolished text.
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Summary: Young de Quincy seeks his fortune.
Review: Set in England of 1193, this novel begins with Justin de Quincy, who has just discovered that his foster father is truly his biological father. Complicating matters, de Quincy's father is a man of the cloth. Not wishing to be a part of his father's household, he leaves his home to seek his fortune. As luck would have it, he comes across a highway robbery. He manages to foil the crime, but not before the weathly traveler is mortally wounded. He presses a note into de Quincy's hand, saying that it is for the eyes of Eleanor of Aquitaine, the Queen. Eleanor's son, Richard the Lionheart is missing, presumed dead. Her younger son, John is suspected of conspiring to seize the crown. de Quincy delivers the letter to the Queen, who immediately engages him to find the highway robbers. The trail leads de Quincy straight back to the intrigues of Eleanor's court.
Rating: 
Summary: A good medieval mystery
Review: I enjoy mysteries set in the distant past and, with fond memories of Brother Cadfael, I decided to try this one, since its time period is not much beyond that of the Benedictine monk. The decision was a wise one, for I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing is first-rate, and the mystery sufficiently complicated so as to keep me guessing until the end. Even at that point, there were additional surprises in store, both for the reader, and the main character. I look forward to reading the next two books in this planned trilogy, and hope that the enthusiastic response will encourage the author to continue the series even further.
Rating: 
Summary: OK
Review: First of a trilogy, here is a decent story, with characters to care for, despite (or because of) their often modern sensibilities in medieval dress (a tack the author says was deliberate, in her informative interview included along with study questions? ). The ambiance of 12th century England is well-constructed, although the period lore does not really shape the plot, and the characters are awfully genteel for the hard life described for the times. The story is not "full of swordplay, bawdy byplay, and derring-do"--as a cover blurb has it--but is rather slow-moving and polite, its characters heroes, damsels, or dark villains. There is little of language, scenes, or gore to ruffle or offend the reader. The admirable queen Eleanor, a favorite personnage of Penman, has a central role. The story passes at a languid pace for a case of murder and secrets allegedly vital to the kingship of England (between Eleanor's sons Richard the Lionhearted, missing on a crusade, and his ambitious brother John), where the reader's feelings, puzzlement, anxiety, and fear are not raised very high. The unexpected ending can be seen as clever, ironic, or a let-down, depending on how high your hopes grew. Two plot strands are left loose for the next book, Cruel as the Grave.
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Summary: Entertaining Read
Review: As an avid murder mystery reader, I enjoyed the twists this book took as well as the glimpse into life for the common people of London. Some of the previous reviews seemed to miss the point that there are times when we need a short story and a book that is simply entertaining, and in Penman's book we have a bonus in some history lessons. This novel entertained me while I was stuck in an airport for hours. I enjoyed it so much that I started reading Cruel as the Grave within 20 minutes (still in the airport) of finishing The Queens Man - I just had to know how Justin and friends were evolving. I signed on to Amazon today to see if the third book is ready.
Rating:
Summary: Light weight
Review: Penman's effort at mystery writing is mildly entertaining, but leaves you wanting more. Character and plot development are sadly neglected, leaving you to assume that this is almost a children's novel. As usual the rich descriptions of medievel England are enthralling and manage to grab the reader's attention. Alas just as it gets interesting the 'mystery' is solved abrubtly and it is all over! Fans of Penman will probably enjoy this book anyway, new readers should try one of her other books.
Rating:
Summary: Discouraged by lack of consistent tone
Review: I am an avid fan of Penman's work. The way in which she painted with words on Here Be Dragons and the books following in that vein was breathtaking. I am extremely disappointed in The Queen's Man. The medieval setting is in disparity with the dialogue. The book transitions are disjunct. If you want lovely novels that will immerse you in the medieval period, I whole-heartedly suggest Here Be Dragons, The Reckoning, the Sunne in Splendour, or when Christ And His Saints Slept. The Queen's Man was a real disappointment.
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