Review: The King's Messenger

I both love and hate devouring a book in one day. I love it because it means it’s a book I was enjoying so much that I didn’t want to put it down (and that I had the time to do nothing but read all day). But I hate it because it means the book I was loving is now done, and in just one day. That happened with The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley. I was riveted from the first page and needed to keep reading. But when I was done? I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. I wanted more!

Here’s the book’s description:

1613: King James – sixth of Scotland, first of England, son of Mary, Queen of Scots - has unified both countries under one crown. But the death of his eldest son, Henry, has plunged the nation into mourning, as the rumours rise the prince was poisoned.

Andrew Logan’s heard the rumours, but he’s paid them little heed. As one of the King’s Messengers he has enough secrets to guard, including his own. In these perilous times, when the merest suggestion of witchcraft can see someone tortured and hanged, men like Andrew must hide well the fact they were born with the Sight.

He’ll need all his gifts, though, when the king sends Andrew north to find and arrest Sir David Murray, once Prince Henry’s trusted courtier, and bring him a prisoner to London to stand trial before the dreaded Star Chamber.

A story of treachery, betrayal and love…

While The King’s Messenger doesn’t seem to officially be a part of Kearsley’s Slain series, it does have some characters readers may remember from those books. That said, this reader could only kind of remember the Moray (spelled Murray in the book’s description) family. But, in my defense, it’s been almost three years since I read The Vanished Days. At some point I really want to reread all the books because I want to see how they fit together and what kind of overlap there is. And they’re all just so good!

The characters in this book burrowed their way into my heart - just as they burrowed into each others’. Reading as Andrew and Phoebe realized they had each other all wrong, from just about the very first moment they had met each other so long ago? And as they all interacted with young Hector? And as David and Andrew learned to respect each other in the most unlikely of circumstances? It was all SO good.

Kearsley has a magic touch when it comes to writing history and characters that leap off the page. She’s so knowledgeable and knows how to research (which she comes by honestly - she has a background in museums) but (and this is a very important but) she also knows what information to put on the page that actually adds to the story. Too many authors will try to put everything they learned into the story but that just makes the story worse. I never felt like I was being lectured or that I was reading a textbook.

Speaking of magic - the small touches of it in this book were perfectly added. Andrew’s Sight was a large part of his character but it didn’t take over the narrative. Lots of people compare Kearsley to Gabaldon, and while I don’t think the two women write the same way, they write the same feelings and ideas. So while time travel in Gabaldon’s books is there and important to the series, it’s not the most important part of the Outlander series. Same goes with Andrew’s Sight. It plays a large role in The King’s Messenger but the story is about so much more than that. And I really appreciated the balance.

The King’s Messenger was such a wonderful read. It had everything I love in historical fiction - fascinating history, great characters, a little love story, some intrigue - and it was all so well written. Every time I read a new Susanna Kearsley novel, I’m reminded that I absolutely must read her backlist. Her books are just so very good and there are many more for me to explore!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*