It was the cover art that drew me to The Poison Bed I decided to request it as a bit of a genre challenge, it was described murder mystery set in the 1600’s so I thought it I would be a bit different to things I would normally pick up.
What I didn’t realise is that this is historical fiction and based on actual events/people from the time of the Stewart monarchy; Frances Howard, Countess of Somerset who was arrested alongside her husband in relation to the poisoning of a key figure at court who opposed her proposed second marriage. The book switches between Him and Her perspectives which focus on Robert Carr, a supposed favourite of King James I and Frances Howard; this split kept it quite interesting as you’re continually switching between sides and between different groups on characters.
I gave this 3 stars because it took me about 40% of the book to really get interested in it; I used to read a lot of historical fiction and would have enjoyed more details around the time period in general as this was very character-centric. I’d recommend this if you’re a fan of authors like Phillipa Gregory.
The Poison Bed is scheduled for UK release on 14th June 2018. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Complex Chaos 