Dark Queen Wary

Set in 1472, Doherty’s strong fourth Margaret Beaufort mystery (after 2021’s Dark Queen Watching) finds Margaret at the Moor, a beautiful palace with an eerie maze and a sinister history, where people associated with the victorious Yorkist side are starting to get murdered. With the Lancaster faction crushed at the recent Battle of Barnet, Margaret, the mother of the last Lancaster heir, Henry Tudor, is in a vulnerable position, made even worse when an imposter shows up, claiming to be her son returned from exile, and the king, Edward IV, insists that she house him. Beaufort’s trusted clerk, Christopher Urswicke, counsels her on how to avoid incurring the king’s wrath while investigating the murders at the Moor, which began with a Yorkist mercenary and are now moving on to the members of the personal guard of Richard Neville, who switched from York to Lancaster and died at the Battle of Barnet because his guards failed to protect him. Doherty does a fine job evoking the brutal atmosphere of the era, in both rich palaces and crime-infested London streets. Those familiar with the players in the Wars of the Roses and all the dynastic plotting will best appreciate this one. (Mar.)