The Royal Descendant by John P. Ford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Royal Descendant follows the idea of Elizabeth I having an illegitimate child and thus providing an heir to the English throne. History books tell us that Elizabeth died without a true heir and the throne went to Scotland. Throughout history many royals had illegitimate children and more than one pretender has been backed by powerful supporters.
John Ford uses this idea and weaves a complex tale around the secret baby. Taking 13 years to complete, this book is full of very detailed research. The chapters go back and forth between different time settings capturing the lives of the many characters.
I liked the opening scene, the shocking murder of an innocent vicar and the leaving of a mysterious calling card. I also liked the jump to 1575 and Kenilworth Castle where we have several close scenes between Elizabeth and Robert Dudley.
There then follows a plot which entwines the search for descendants from the secret child and a growing list of murdered people which threatens to reach its final victim. The National Criminal Intelligence Service, Mi5, the police and several other security services are involved in the search for the person ultimately behind the plot to replace the Queen with the true heir to the English throne.
Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
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Rosie Amber 
Sounds interesting! The English throne has always fascinated me in both history and fiction–funnily enough, not in the present 🙂 I was probably the last person to find out the heir to the throne (can’t even remember his name, how sad is that?) had a girlfriend. Fiancée. Wife. Wait–baby, too? 😀 But I have well-paged biographies of Elizabeth (I, obviously), Mary Queen of Scots, and Henry VIII. Fascinating times. Fascinating people.
Visiting from The A-Z Theme Reveal — and looking forward to your March 21st post!
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Thank you, I’m getting quite excited about the tour and was pleased to find the post about Theme Reveals, I’ve passed it on to others.
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Sounds like an exciting read and a highly original idea. Good review. 🙂
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Thank you.
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