The Poison Bed by E.C. Fremantle was published in 2018. I decided to read this one after reading Helen’s much fuller review at She Reads Novels, you can read it here.
Each chapter of this book is titled alternately him and her. He is Robert Carr and she is his wife Frances and they’ve been imprisoned in the Tower of London. It’s a mighty fall from grace for them both as Robert had been a favourite of King James VI – or James I if you’re more used to the English title of that first Stuart king to succeed Elizabeth I of England.
Frances had been married previously, very unhappily, as a Howard she had been used by her family to promote their power but her husband wasn’t interested in her and Frances fell for the king’s favourite. Eventually she gets an annulment and marries Robert, a man whose relationship with the king should mean success for the couple but everything begins to unravel and when Robert’s previous ‘friend’ dies horribly fingers are pointed at the couple.
I really liked this one and it’s the first book I’ve read by the author but I’ll probably read more by E.C. Fremantle.
