I purchase anthologies to get aquainted with new authors. Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine generally satisfies my thirst for crime stories, but the whole historical aspect of this collection caught my interest. Overall, the book is pleasant, yet humdrum. Many of the stories were so brief you really couldn't get a feel for any of the characters and whatever clues were required to conclude each story seemed thrust forth eagerly in an effort to just end things quickly. Some stories shone more brightly than others--mainly due to the creative use of setting. I'm uncertain how accurate some of the details were for each of the eras represented, but all seemed quite plausible, creating nearly all of the charm the book possessed. Many of the stories came across as little more than tiny one-act plays with little time for humor or any misleading of the reader, thus making them instantly forgettable. If the authors are allowed more leeway to properly flavor the next collection, perhaps it won't be quite so bland. I'd rather pay more for a thicker book or read one with fewer authors penning longer stories than see another collection so forced and underdone.

Fans of historical mysteries will have a very good time perusing the third collection in an excellent anthology series. Editor Sharyn Newman has accumulated a variety of superb stories that will satisfy most readers with its strong contents. The introduction written by talented Victorian mystery author Anne Perry provides insight into the book, series, and overall sub-genre.

Many popular writers have contributed tales about their famous characters. Steven Sayor includes a new Gordionus story while Bruce Alexander provides a well-written original story. Miriam Grave Monefredi combines her Civil War knowledge with a Viet Nam widow's loss. Jan Burke, known for her police procedurals and amateur sleuths has written a historical supernatural mystery. Even alternate history great Harry Turtledove has entered the foray. All the stories are entertaining and fun to read, making this short story collection worth keeping.

Harriet Klausner

I can't really judge if this is an accurate medieval setting, although it is a very vivid one. The problem here is the plot. At the end of the book, I am left completely baffled by the motives of the main actors. I won't discuss it in any detail, since I don't want to spoil the plot, but they must have been relatively stupid since they could have accomplished their purposes in a simple and straightforward way that would have avoided a lot of grief. A friend of mine would roll her eyes at this point and tell me that their motive is simple: if they behaved sensibly, there wouldn't be a plot. Silly me.

As a student of Medieval History and an avid reader of bothmystery novels and historical novels this book was right up my alley. Newman's characters are lively and the plot moves quickly and logically, though not necessarily predictably. I have read two books in this series and am eager to read the rest of them. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a light mystery read with an historical setting. I have read this book twice myself. END

This is the 2nd in the Catherine LeVendeur series, and is every bit as enjoyable as the first. Edgar and Catherine are a great sleuthing pair, and the 12th century detail is fascinating. I also appreciate Newman's character development; even minor characters are well-developed and interesting.

When I bought this book I thought it would be a story about Guinevere being torn between two men. As far as I can see she didn't love Arthur at all. As another reviewer said, she's spoiled, selfish and an airhead. Lancelot also gets on my nerves. Ugh. I am disappointed in this book because most of the other novels that I've read that involve the Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot love triangle are at least interesting. This one wasn't, sadly.

Newman did a little better with this second part of her trilogy than she did with the first book. While the writing is still very simplistic and many characters remain undeveloped, I found a bit of interest in the subcharacters. Guinevere continues to be a self-absorbed dimwit but at least the unicorn is finally gone. How in the world the unicorn gave it's love of Guinevere to Lancelot is still a mystery to me. It seemed to be nothing more than Newman's weak effort to get rid of the unicorn character - for which I was grateful. Let's see - there are so many silly points...Lancelot goes insane because Guinevere has suffered a flashback of post tramatic stress disorder involving her long dead nurse Flora. However, we had no idea that the Flora episode ever bothered Guinevere in the first place. Luckily Lancelot is saved by the Lady of the Lake and then suddenly gives up his efforts to find his birth mother. Guinevere's brother who returned from "the dead" vanishes from the story opting to live in the wilderness where he has no contact with the rest of Britian...or with the author apparently because she completely forgets about those poor people living in the wilderness. Sound scattered? Sound childish? IT IS! However, Arthur's character was somewhat interesting. It kept me ready....I'm not quite sure why.

I loved this book. I have always been intrigued by the legend of Sir Lancelot and Lady Guinevere, it was nice to actually read exactly what I wanted to read without all the garbage that goes with it.

I struggled to finish this book. I was disappointed in the trilogy to begin with and this book was DIFFICULT to continue. At about page 90, I finally sparked a tidbit of interest and decided to continue. Honestly, I was less interested in the author's conclusion of the Arthurian tale than I was simply curious to see how she wrapped up all of the loose ends she left in the other two books. Well - the answer is that she wrapped them up poorly.
Morgan Le Fay reappears from beneath the lake for just long enough to cause trouble and give a way for Arthur to die. Morgause vanishes. Guinevere's brother and his wife along with the other couple out in the woods appear only long enough for a long-lost nephew to arrive at the villa and then not another word is mentioned of them. Merlin and Geraldus make a couple of re-emergences but they are eventless. Guinevere does suddenly have a practically death-bed recollection of the unicorn but that story line is still as ridiculous as it was in book one. The quick disposal of each of the knights in a couple of paragraphs near the end and then the onset of a plague seem only to allow the author to finish the storyline without torturing us through a volume four - for that I am thankful. She culminates by throwing in two or so pages of questionable historical record as if to lend a modicum of credibility to her otherwise juvenile and fantastic tale of unicorns, misty other-worlds and undeveloped ancient religious practices.
This trilogy is amaturish, and filled with childish attempts at fantasy which do nothing to perpetuate what is normally a good tale...the ledgend of King Arthur. Weak moments of interesting writing are few and far between and only serve to link toghether the pages full of boring, uninformative blathering. Guinevere is unlikable from the start and remains so until her death. Had Guinevere truly been this boring, she'd have been forgotten long ago. I guess the worst part is that so many aspects that may have been developed and created an interesting twist on this old tale were simply ignored...as this entire trilogy should be ignored by anyone interested in a good Arthurian legend. I won't even try to explain her endless references to Guinevere's unnaturally golden hair and the fact that all three books contain cover art featuring a brunette!! - Power for the course with this series.

I have read numerous book about the Arthurian legend, but my interest has always been Guenevere. She is not always present in the most flattering light by authors, and sometimes she is only a brief mention. This book, however, is extremely well written. It presents the rise and fall of Camelot through Guenevere's perspective, and it also is very careful about presenting both sides of her story. It clearly establishes a platonic love between her and Arthur, and the eternal struggle that she faces with as her forbidden love for Lancelot grows. It also presents the deep friendship and comradery of the Round Table, as well as the anguish of her childless-ness. In this version of the story, Lancelot and her raise Galahad as their own son, even though Elaine is the real mother.

This is the final chapter of three books by the author, but the first one is unfortunately out of print. This was an excellent book.

The autor writes too much about the research subjects. She should place more attention on the conclusion and elaborate more about it with her personal experience. Certainly, her own experience also counts.

The book is like a research paper, a thesis. It is not easy to read.