A Sundial in a Grave: 1610 by Mary Gentle

This book is titled A Sundial in a Grave: 1610 by Mary Gentle. It is a novel of intrigue, secret societies, and the race to save history. It is a historical fiction and has only been read once. The actual condition of the book is very good. There is a slight curve to the front cover and a slight twist in the spine but the book itself is perfectly readable. Thus begins a sweeping historical adventure about two dueling swordsmen and the plot to kill a king in the grand tradition of Dorothy Dunnett and Alexander Dumas. The year is 1610. Continental Europe is briefly at peace after years of war, but Henri IV of France is planning to invade the German principalities. In England, only 5 years earlier, conspirators nearly succeeded in blowing up King James I and his Parliament. The seeds of the English civil war and the 30 years war are visibly being sown, and the possibility for both enlightenment and disaster abounds. But Valentine Rochefort, duelist and spy for France's powerful financial Minister, could not care less. Until he is drawn into the glittering palaces, bawdy backstreets, and stunning theatrics of Renaissance France and Shakespearean London in a deadly plot both to kill King James I and to save him. For this swordsman without a conscience is about to find himself caught between loyalty, love, and blackmail, between Kings, Queens, politicians, and Rosicrucians - and the woman he has, unknowingly, crossed land and sea to meet.