Kathy Lynn Emerson Face Down O’er the Border

Face Down O'er the Border

Kathy Lynn Emerson

Perseverance Press, Sept 2007, $14.95, 236 pp.

ISBN 9781880284919

In August of 1577 Catherine Russell, Lady Glenelg, wakes up at the bottom of the steps in Glenelg House in Cannongate, Scotland only to see her mother-in-law Jean Ferguson dead. Nobody is nearby leaving Catherine to wonder if she killed Lady Russell. She has no chance to ponder the question because Annabel MacReyolds, retired intelligence gatherer, arrives and whisks her out of the house before anyone can accuse her of murder.

She makes arrangements to send her seven year old daughter Cordell to her sister-in-law and friend Susanna Appleton with her trusted servant Avise. Susana gets word that Catherine is in trouble and with her lover Nick races to Scotland to try to find her. Annabel has done a good job hiding them so that even the clever Susanna cannot find them. Catherine is determined to get her son away from his position with the eleven year old monarch. They intend to meet up with Cordell and escape Scotland and England because her eight years old Gavin doesn't want to be a noble and the entire family wants the freedom to choose their own destiny. Unknowingly, Susanna has something to make Catherine's dream come true while trying to find out who killed Catherine's mother in-law and framed her.

Kathy Lynn Emerson writes some of the best Elizabethan mysteries on the market today. Her historical details give the reader a sense of time and place. The idioms used by the characters (see glossary) adds authenticity to the period without distracting from the murder mystery, which is cleverly played out on several levels including finding Catherine, figuring out a way to get her son out of his position at court, meeting up with Cordell and figuring out who killed Jean. FACE DOWN O'ER THE BORDER is a electrifying historical mystery filled with romance and political intrigue.

Harriet Klausner