4.5★
“’And if you find him, you’ll arrest him?’

‘No, probably not, especially since his family are likely to back him up. I’ll kill him, if I can.’”

Ah, weren’t things simple back in 1593? Simple but grim and bloody and dirty. Sir Robert Carey, cousin and nephew to Queen Elizabeth I recently saved the King of Scotland from an attack and is pursuing the attacker. He’s back in England, not at his usual post as Deputy Warden but has a warrant to investigate.

Meanwhile, Sgt Henry Dodd, who was his stalwart second-in-command, has turned on him and seemingly disappeared, feared dead. Dodd's faithful wife, Janet, who adores him, is already grieving, both at the thought of losing him and of losing her home because there is no heir to take over. Women have never counted for much, certainly not then. (Except for the Queen, of course.)

I’ve always enjoyed Janet Dodd's character, so it was nice to see her featured. I also always enjoy Lady Elizabeth Widdrington, the married woman (with a cruel, old husband!) who has Sir Robert’s heart and whom he not so secretly longs to 'rescue'. She has been serving as a lady in waiting to the King of Scotland’s queen, so Sir Robert has had the very occasional glimpse of her when he’s with King James.

“It was so hard not to kiss her, especially with King James a few paces from him, kissing his Queen in a way that boded optimistically for the succession. He moved away with a sigh and then stopped because Elizabeth had put her hand on his arm and thrilled his skin even through the velvet of his doublet sleeve. ‘Wait!’ she said, and she was smiling.”

There are always some scenes with a comic relief quality as well, to break up the life-and-death situations Sir Robert seems to keep falling into. Most of this story takes place in freezing January, whether Carey is escorting and protecting the women who necessarily have to move from one place to another, or is trying to track down a cold-blooded killer. One of his off-siders is an Irishman who insists on running everywhere barefoot!

The story moves between Carey’s search for Sgt Dodd and helping the women and an island an island where German miners have set up a small community to mine copper. There are fantastic machines, well-described, smelters and what seems like a pretty sophisticated and complicated system of extracting ore.

Some of that I found interesting, but did get impatient waiting for something to happen. Finally

“The gates were locked, the charcoal fires burning and reeking inside like the mouth of Hell and Carey hammered with his fist on the gate and Mr Allerdyce stood with his thumbs in his belt. ‘Open in the name of the Queen!’ bellowed Carey and took an axe to the gate, hit it once with a satisfying crunch.”

Then, we get into the mines, and WOW! That was claustrophobic edge-of-the-seat action that almost needs a trigger warning!

Several storylines are brought to satisfactory conclusions, but . . . the last few pages are . . . well, let’s just say when I read the last sentence and turned the page anxiously, I was greeted with “Cast of Characters”. ARGH!#*!

I’ve had this on my NetGalley list for ages while I read the first books in this great series. Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for the “preview” copy which is now old news! So where’s the next one, eh, Ms Chisholm/Finney?

The Author continues his series featuring Sir Robert Carey with this latest offering set at the start of 1593 .
Whilst the book can be read as a standalone I would recommend reading the previous books first to set the characters in place .

Sir Robert has two tasks in play - the first is finding the man who tried to assassinate King James and the second is from Queen Elizabeth I , what was happening in her mines run by German mining experts , close to the Scottish border . She wants and needs the gold produced .
His servant Sergeant Henry Dodd is missing , possible dead - he is escorting the widow back to her home from the Scottish court .
The assassin , as the son of a master miner , and has links in the area - murder comes easily to his hand .
In 1593 the Border countryside has shifting alliances , fighting and feuding the norm - just who can he trust ? Does the Widow have plans for Sir Robert ? What of Lady Elizabeth ? Who will watch his back ?

This is a beautifully written historical mystery which I thoroughly enjoyed and look forward to more of the same from the Author in the future .

Interesting dip into medieval England and Scotland. Medieval mining and environmental issues along with border issues between Scotland and England. Propulsive story includes background of class and corruption. Clearly part of a series that is an ongoing story.

PF Chisolm continues the Sir Robert Carey mysteries based on his memoirs as the bastard nephew of Queen Elizabeth I and deputy warden of the border with Suspicion of Silver. Sir Robert has been tasked by King James to find the man who tried to assassinate him and by Queen Elizabeth with finding out what was happening in her mines run by German mining experts up close to the border. His servant Sergeant Dodd may have died and he is escorting the widow back to her home from the Scottish court. The assassin is the son of the master miner who set up the silver mines and a dead cold murderer. Bodies pile up and the border feuds smolder. 1593 border country has shifting alliances that Carey must navigate while keeping himself alive and somewhat solvent. Absolutely wonderful historical mystery !!!!!

I love this series! Another fantastic mystery that I had to finish in one sitting I can't wait till the next one. A fantastic series for any mystery lover

Wow, there is a lot going on in this book! The author prepares us right from the beginning, with entries in an extensive glossary, but you’ll learn more about mining, the mines of Keswick, and Anabaptists then perhaps you ever wanted to know. And the problem with that is it gets in the way of the continuation of the story of Sir Robert Carey and Lady Elizabeth Widdrington. And that’s a bad thing, which is why I don’t think this book is as compelling a story as others in the series.

The plot, in a nutshell: Sir Robert’s after a would-be assassin of King James, who, having failed, has disappeared. Has he fled to the continent, or gone to hide among his German relatives? Speaking of disappearing, so has Sergeant Henry Dodd, who always manages to cause all kinds of trouble, blood feuds being what they are in this part of the kingdom. And since Dodd is presumed dead, in this complex world of inheritance, and land, and who stays and who goes from that land, his widow has plans for Sir Robert. And then there’s Lady Elizabeth, and the trials and tribulations there. And in between – did I mention all the fighting and feuding that goes on, on the border between England and Scotland, that takes place in this book and the others in the series? This is book #9 – a reader should definitely not start here.

Entirely too much time is spent in “A Suspicion of Silver” -- that prologue, for instance -- on characters that although they are very important to the plot, did not contribute to my enjoyment of the book. Now, yes, I understand that one family member in particular plays a very important part in the books and therefore in “the Courtier’s” life, but in my opinion too many pages are taken up with the Hochstetter family and their story and backstory. Obviously, it was a way to bring them into the plot; much is explained in a very informative author’s note at the book’s ending, and there is also an extensive Cast of Characters. But still.

Luckily, we do have a couple of scenes of Sir Robert and Lady Elizabeth. And then there’s that finish. Hmmm…. I went back and forth with my "stars" for this, but as the research and scholarship is exemplary, as is the quality of the writing, it deserves a high rating.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for an advance copy of the book, in exchange for this review.

In the previous episode in this excellent historical series, Sir Robert Carey had just foiled a heinous plot to kill King James of Scotland. Now he is in pursuit of the perpetrator who managed to escape over the border. It's possible he has gone to ground in his home turf, a copper mine run by his family in England and Carey has been been furnished with warrants to inspect the mines and make sure they are paying the Queen her share of the gold also produced by the mine.

Carey has suspicions that something shady is going on especially when he spots one of the known troublemakers from the borders acting as a respectable land owner. Carey is without his once loyal support to watch his back, Sergent Dodd, now believed dead although his body has not yet been found in the heavy snows.

This series gets better with each book and this is the best one so far, although it is definitely advisable to read them in order. Chisholm is so good at depicting the feel of a time and place and the historical details feel spot on, even when describing the operation of a 16th century copper mine and smelter. The next book promises to focus more on Carey's personal life as this book ends on a cliff hanger with a distress call from the woman he loves but cannot marry.

Interesting historical mystery with the terrific setting of 16th century Scotland and England. Sir Robert is chasing a bad guy who tried to assassinate King James but he's also trying to deal with the disappearance of Henry Dodd and his own love life. Whew. There's a lot going on here and I hadn't read the earlier books so I'm sure I missed a lot. I'd also recommend newbies read this in hard copy instead of ebook in order to more easily flip back and forth to check on who's who and what's what. This is obviously well researched and you'll learn more than usual when reading a mystery, even in this genre. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

This is one of those series which I believe it is best to read all the previous books. It seems there are too many story lines from the previous books so I found it difficult to engage with the characters and the story, and to rate it, as I have only ever read Book one and that was many years ago. Though I do remember enjoying reading the book.

Another brilliant book in this so enjoyable series. In fact it may even be the best one so far. Certainly Sir Robert Carey excels himself - in many, varied ways!

This is definitely a series which needs to be read in order as there are plot lines which continue through the books as well as the fact that the characters grow on you. At the end of the last book for example Henry Dodd was in a very serious situation and in A Suspicion of Silver we discover the unusual way his wife, Janet, deals with the possibility of his death and her consequent disinheritance.

P.F. Chisholm as usual creates an excellent feeling of the atmosphere of the time and shares many details of how uncomfortable life must have been, even for the rich and most certainly for the poor. Couple this with very poor control of the law and a general lack of morals in the populace and I am glad I live in current times!

The book ends as usual on a cliff hanger, a very personal one for Sir Robert. Now I cannot wait for book 10!

4 stars

It is 1593 in Scotland and Sir Robert Carey has stepped in and prevented an assassination attempt against King James. He sets out pursue the evil doer.

What follows is an exciting chase across England while Sir Robert looks for Joachim Hochstetter also known as Jonathan Hepburn. Sir Robert is uncertain if Hochstetter has headed for home in Keswick or if he has fled the country to fields further in Europe.

Further vexing Sir Robert is the disappearance of his sidekick Sergeant Henry Dodd. No one seems to know where he has disappeared to, or if he is even alive.

This is a very well written and plotted novel. It paints a thorough and colorful picture of Scotland and England in the late 16th Century. It describes the people, the countryside and everyday life of the times in which the book is set. I felt like I was there. There is a lot going on in this book. It is not just a chase looking for a specific man. This is my first novel by this author, and I immediately went to Amazon to look for other books of hers.

I want to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review.

Book takes place in 1593 Ireland. Sir Robert Carey is looking for the attempted assassin of King James. The book followed the historical time period. I enjoyed looking in the past. It was a well written book.

I do love Sir Robert Carey, although this one was a bit dark for me to read.. Earlier volumes were a bit less so or so it seems to me..
The ending which I liked suggests a rescue of Elizabeth Widdrington by Carey, hoping the marriage is in the future. What about Janet Dodd? Oh My!!
I did enjoy "the Duke of York: so have something to look forward to? The author also has good historical data but, as she says uses broad author's license.