The Twylight Tower (Elizabeth I Mysteries, Book 3)

very good , I like everything Karen Harper has written that I`ve read so far , however I felt that she focused too much on the relationship of Elizabeth and Dudley it was distracting for me , perhaps because I am reading the series out of order and I love the character of Meg Miligrew but in this book she is sort of annoying . overall it was a very good read.

Enjoyed the historical background to a most exciting and suspenseful mystery. Queen Elizabeth comes to life on the pages of this novel as a strong, determined, but demanding young woman. Each one of Karen Harper's Elizabeth I novels highlights aspects of life in the royal court and life in general in London. The supporting characters are equally exciting and well characterized. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

If you think that the mighty queen Bess was likely to travel the dark passageways and high towers of her castle, that she might catch a murderer, then you may enjoy this tale.There is little sign of the regal monarch of history.The story is one of jealousy and revenge, but felt a little strained at times.

I had read the whole series years ago and it is a pleasure to find it again. Still a really good book.

Love these stories about the imaginary solutions to real politics

I love historical thrillers, and the Elizabtehan age is a favorite. This series is an easy go to when I want something entertaining and fun.

In the opening chapter of The Twylight Tower, Karen Harper shows a besotted Elizabeth I ignoring throne and country as she dallies with her erstwhile lover, Robert Dudley. But the death of her favourite lutenist and of Dudley's wife bring her out of her haze and send her and her Privy Plot Council searching once again for a possible assassin.Harper yet again shows her historical characters to advantage: Dudley is the dashing, grasping, true yet untrue man he was in real life, Cecil is Elizabeth's rock, and Elizabeth herself is the sharp, sensible young woman we know from history whose head has been turned (as every young person's has at one time) by a fair face. They remain true to character and true to form throughout the novel.However, Harper yet again drags in her myriad of original characters, none of which seem to remain the same from novel to novel. I've written in a review of  The Tidal Poole (Elizabeth I Mysteries, Book 2)  that a common fault of series writers is their assumption that readers will follow them from book to book starting from Book 1 in the series. This leads them to be too sparse with characterization in later books, confusing readers who begin the series later on. Harper makes this mistake again in The Twylight Tower, but also makes another error: she allows her characters' temperaments and personalities to vacillate to fit her plot. This is especially true with respect to her original characters, such as Gil the artist whose temperament changes from book to book, but is most obvious with respect to Meg the herbalist, whom Harper blunders with despite her overly sympathetic view of her.But the worst part of this book is that the plot itself and the resolution simply don't hold water, and one reason is that Harper ignores and even openly sneers at evidence-based science in what appears to be an attempt to turn a mystery into a paean to quack medicine. On every page the characters praise the benefits of herbs; on every page Meg the herb girl is considered by all as smarter and more capable than she is. It's doltish, and it makes the characters seem both less intelligent and less perceptive than they need to be. And yet this woman who sneers at evidence-based science purports to concoct mysteries based on...that's right, evidence. It's awfully hypocritical; what's more, this hypocrisy - using evidence to solve a mystery while sneering at evidence - shows in the poorly constructed plot.I don't recommend this doltish book. Elizabeth I could do so much better than Karen Harper and her quackery.

Definately the weekest of the bunch, and I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person to think so. Although I didnt hate this book and plan to read on in the series, and also I think this is the book i got most wrapped up in. I found myself frustrated with Elizabeth in this one, she seems so blind and her character is so different from the other books. I hope she goes back to the way she was in the others in the next one.

Better than the other one I read

you can get hooked on these

Second, in the Elizabeth 1 murder mysteries it is engaging and you feel as if you are there back in time.