Robin Williams Books

I have been following the life of Prince William since his birth (though not fanatically) and thought this book looked like it might bring some new light to the boy who became a man the moment he walked behind his mother's coffin that sad day in 1997. The information in the book covers all of William's formative years all the way up to present day, but the main reason to purchase the book is for the photgraphs. Several are never-before seen (at least by me) and the up-close shots are bright, crisp and clear. You get a feel for this young man who must learn step-by-step on how to handle the press without turning them against you (surely no easy task and one neither of his parents ever fully accomplished, though there may be hope for Charles). I read the book in one day since the early information was not new to me and savored the pictures. I came away with a new appreciation for the unique position Prince William has and a hope that he finds the happiness in life that has eluded Charles and that Diana seemed on just the verge of finding.

I read this book hoping to get a better understanding of multiple personality disorder, but it lost a lot of credibility as I began to see how poorly researched it was. I am a counselor and work with a great many people who have gone through traumatic experiences. Sheldon's notion that multiple personality disorder can be cured is laughable. Treated, yes. But the idea that Ashley would spend five years in a lock-down psych hospital and then go home feeling absolutely wonderful and totally at peace with the world is crazy. Also, the idea that it would be acceptible for her therapist to take her to dinner and dancing regularly is so far from what is ethical clinical practice that it made the book seem like a joke. There are numerous other events and passages in the book that convinced me that Sheldon is shooting in the dark, hoping the words he puts down will be believable but falling short. I realize he is not a clinician, but good authors who don't necessarily start out knowing a lot about their subject do their homework, research the topic thoroughly, have numerous experts read their book and provide feedback prior to publication, and deliver a credible product. This is not it.

The book was definitely entertaining, but it did make me a bit depressed. But it certainly is worth a read.

Sidney Sheldon held my attention once again w/his lovely dialogue. He fashions a story that you can really sink ur teeth into!!

This is the only book I have found that I could not put down. It keeps you in suspense, while you tilt on the edge of your seat. The ending is such a surprise!!! Get ready for a wonderful thrill!

Multiple personality disorder is the subject of this Sheldon work and it is nothing short of outstanding. The story centers around the character of serene Ashley Patterson, 28 year old graphic artist at a company called Global Computer Graphics. Toni Prescott is 22 years old with a powerful desire to stir things up and live on the edge. Alette Peters is a low-key type personality always trying to keep Toni from blowing up but in the end, giving into whatever Toni says. As the story unfolds and Ashley's memory takes on more and more black holes, the reader realizes that this is a dire situation, involving murder, that may be next to impossible to correct. Sheldon takes us deep into the minds of the three personalities and keeps us on the edge of our seats to see "what happens next," never knowing who will prevail. In the words of a familiar children's song, "pop! goes the weasel" - you'll have to read the book to understand the real meaning of this phrase.

I really enjoyed this book. Unlike some other reviews I don't think that she came across snobby or stuck up or full of herself. I think she came across as a woman who had finally gained confidence and was finally getting a chance to experience life! Yes, she has money and therefor has the means to travel and go shopping and throw parties, but that shouldn't be a reason to not like this book. Susan Leach worked hard to achieve her goal, and I think her story was very inspiring. The only reason I gave it 4 stars was because I wish the book had been longer. Half of the book is recipes and I think she should have maybe only had 1/3 be recipes, and then most of the book devoted to her weight loss story. I think the only reason people don't like this book is because they are jealous of her life style. But I for one, really enjoyed it and it inspired me a great deal. I recommend it.

I have just finished reading this book. It is a great and informative book. Love the recipes!!!!!!

My sister gave me a copy of this book several months after I had
bariatric surgery and I found I was able to relate to many of the
experiences that the author captured in this book. I particularly
enjoyed the author's positive outlook and encouraging way of conveying
even the negative aspects of having such a life altering operation
because not everything about having a Roux-En-Y operation is pleasant.

I did not read the recipes she provided simply because my wife is Czech
and does not allow me to cook anyway, but I am sure they offer some
great ideas for those people finding it challenging to supplement their
new diets with some good and healthy things to eat.

It has now been nine months since I had my operation and I am down to
192 lbs from a beginning weight of 332 lbs. As an engineer, and thus
one that enjoys torturing data to a confession of what transpired, the
one thing I would like to have seen the author include was some data
documenting her progress following her operation. I guess I will just
have to keep documenting my own progress and write my own book of
experiences.

On the whole, this is a very good book for someone considering bariatric
surgery or anyone close to someone considering bariatric surgery to
read. Prior to having my surgery I read a lot of factual information to
gain a thorough understanding of what to expect. In retrospect, it
would not have altered or influenced my decision to have the surgery,
but I am sure I would have appreciated reading this book beforehand if
for no other reason than to reinforce the positives of having the
operation and hear about it first-hand from the perspective of someone
that had gone through it. Sure, I read many testimonials, both pro and
con, but none written as a journey of emotions, disappointments,
failures, and successes through the changes experienced leading up to
and following having the procedure done like this book captures.

There is a lot more to consider than the obvious and this book does a
good job either directly or indirectly - of pointing out many aspects
that one should evaluate before making such a life changing decision.
It is definitely worth reading and will certainly give you at least a
few things to think about.

This was an awful waste of money. Little more here than... "aren't I amazing, and having a good time now?" I have found some of her advice to be contrary to current medical thinking and I have found some of the products she sells - not to be in the best interest of post-op patients.

This author stole our name for our weight loss company then she put our name on her book--she lives in our neighborhood so I know she knew she was infringing on our name. I have no respect for her and her book sucks.

Although this book was listed by the vendor, it was out of stock so I never got it. My account was credited, but why list the book when it isn't available.?

I recieved the book promptly. The book is in good condition. I am currently enjoying the book and it is alway nice to see history thru a woman's eyes. Thank You Cokie Roberts

One of the most sophomoric books to hit the market in a while, the prose is bad, the content is mere filler of cute stories of women doing very little, and the author can't stay on the subject at all.

Ms. Roberts did a fine job on sharing the little known history of our founding mothers. It opens one's eyes to the role women really did play in the war for independence.

"Founding Mothers" by Cokie Roberts provides a welcome feminist perspective on a vital period in American history. Ms. Roberts' status as a well-known news commentator draws much-needed attention to the underreported story of the women who struggled to help found our nation. Displaying the professionalism for which she is held in high regard in media circles, Ms. Roberts thoroughly researched the subject matter and has written her book in a clear and engaging style. Her discovery of numerous personal letters are excerpted in a popular work here for the first time, bringing to life a compelling and dramatic perspective on the American Revolution that should be of great interest to all history readers.

I had the privilege of attending a lecture where Ms. Roberts discussed this book and her follow-up, "Ladies of Liberty". Ms. Roberts was born the daughter of a U.S. Congressman and has spent her entire life immersed in the Washington, D.C. political scene where she has observed first-hand the important role that women play both behind the scenes and, increasingly, on the public stage (including her own mother, who won a special election to fill her father's seat in the House following his untimely death). No doubt, Ms. Roberts' interest in history and her unique life experiences have amply prepared her to write an insightful book that intelligently and sensitively discusses the role of women during the nation's formative years.

The book is organized chronologically. Ms. Roberts profiles a number of prominent women in the years before, during and after the Revolution, including Abigail Adams, Eliza Pinckney, Martha Washington and many others. Ms. Roberts also introduces lesser-known women such as Phyllis Wheatley, an African-American slave who wrote patriotic poetry and Peggy Arnold, who Ms. Roberts believes almost certainly aided the work of her traitorous husband, Benedict Arnold. Ms. Roberts' narrative covers all of the major events that one would expect but supplements her story with many overlooked facts, including how women organized to secure funding for the war effort at a time when the revolution might well have collapsed; how Sally Jay helped to charm Spain and France into supporting the American cause; and dozens of other interesting and entertaining anecdotes.

Importantly, as we gain an understanding of the challenges these mostly elite women faced during the Revolution, it is evident that the Enlightenment ideal of progress was achieved in no small part as the result of significant material, emotional and intellectual sacrifice by women. By lifting the voices of these women out of obscurity, Ms. Roberts has implicitly reminded us how truth can be spoken to power and how revolutions dedicated to the betterment of people and society are possible.

I highly recommend this book to everyone.

I just finished Robin Cook's Fatal Cure first published in 1993. Health care reform was a huge topic then, and surprise it is, or will be a big topic in the upcoming presdential election in 2008. The plot and characters are not developed well but the read is easy and engaging. As a physician myself, I can relate to the excitement and uncertainty of finally finishing your training to start your career, but with the economic burden of debt. Now as a practicing physician, I am acutely aware of how the economics of medicine do not necessarily mix with good patient care. Dr. Cook's thoughts on the subject are well presented in the last few pages of the novel. An old novel with a timely message.

Complete waste of time! I am done reading Robin Cook books for now..The story line for this book is so stupid I am amazed Mr. Cooks editors even allowed it to be printed..I'm not sure about the hospitals where Robin lives or works at, but in the area where I live, if just one patient died there would be an immediate investigation, but here we have several patients die from unknown causes and the characters just move along like it's no big deal..The Wilsons even allow their daughter to be admitted!!! Give me a break!! Like I said..don't waste your time on this one!!

Fatal Cure is Robin Cook's most controversial book ever written about the darker side of managed health care in America. A married couple start a hospital business where they can treat several patients in a day, including their daughter who suffers from crystic fibrosis. For awhile, it works until their patients begin to die and when a dead body is discovered is their basement, they begin to lose popularity. A very suspensful book, this could actually happen. Overall, a good book!

I enjoyed reading the book because it did have a good idea behind it. What bothered me, though, was how unrealistic the main characters' responses were to what happened to them. What got me the most was when the two characters that the family and the little girl were supposedly so close to died, they didn't even contact their families or attend their funerals! PLEASE! At least mention it in the book for 5 seconds so that we know that you have at least a slight grasp of what would really happen! No wonder everyone in Barlet hated them!!

I'm sure you've read the plot synopsis by now, so I'll skip it and get to the real review. This book is a long, contrived, boring piece of unrealistic drivel. This guy went to Harvard? It reads like an Encyclopedia Brown mystery, except you figure it all out much quicker. The characters are underdeveloped and frighteningly unrealistic (not to mention just plain stupid. It took them 400 pages to figure out what was going on? Maybe they went to Harvard, too). Evidently, in Dr. Cook's world nobody ever utters an obscenity or does anything risque or more involved than "making love." We get pages and pages about a man having an affair with his business associate, been when it comes to the pivotal moment the experience is summed up in two words. Sounds like Cook is as prudish as his main characters. Skip this book unless you enjoy mind-bogglingly bad literature (a la "Mystery Science Theater 3000", perhaps). This is my first, and last, Robin Cook novel.

I recommend this book for anyone new to Leopard, it is very easy to read and understand, plus its offers color diagrams. It's worth the money!

Great book for newbies and kids, but nothing substantial for long-time Mac users needing maintenance and security info. I also found her cutesy writing personality totally annoying. If you want a seriously excellent Mac OSX book, of which there seems very few, go to the consummate expert, David Pogue. He uses humor, gets to the point and help at the same time.

This is an OK book but I was expecting more! It was very basic and I was looking for a more advanced manual. More on scurity and firewalls etc.

This is my first time owning a mac, and this book is excellent giving every detail you could possibly imagine to help in the transition from a PC to a Mac. Also, I'm a very detailed person and need good explainations and this book has gone far beyond my expectations and I'd honestly recommend this book to any friend of mine. Enjoy.

This is hands down the best Mac tutorial book I've found.
I have had both PCs and Macs. Got my first computer in the early 90s. So I've seen my share of confusing poorly written software books and manuals. This is by far the best I've come across.
Robin Williams writes in a totally non-intimidating, clear, easy to understand style that makes getting around Leopard an absolute breeze and a pleasure. This book is super simple to follow yet has all the more in depth knowledge to enable the novice and accomplished Applehead to get FULLY up to speed and to master their Mac/Leopard in no time.
"Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Peachpit Learning Series" is the first book I have purchased by this author but I will definitely look for her computer texts first in the future.
Thanks for helping to make mastering my Mac so much fun Robin. (:

Enjoyed the tale, read it in about three hours, appreciated the style and the way it all hung together, found many aspects very amusing, especially the climax of five nuns and Ms Hudson chained together in the back of a van.. also very educational for me into the life styles of people I do not come across.. do not understand how the residents of The Chelsea can pay for their accommodations, or how the hotel permits unregistered guests to shack up in various rooms! But also an insight into the American female mind, no wonder families rarely stay together in that country, it is all about getting quick excitement and immediate satisfaction for oneself! What about doing something with ones life that is worthwhile? None of the characters in the book had a structure apart from the fellow in retirement from Liverpool... not far from where I was born... OK! These comments are too serious! I will certainly read more of her work. (I came across this in a hotel library whilst on holiday in Menorca).

In keeping with the Hayter streak I've been on of late, I started and finished The Chelsea Girl Murders by Sparkle Hayter. This is probably one of the more serious Robin Hudson novels to date...

Robin Hudson's apartment burns down, and she's forced to take refuge in a friend's apartment at the Chelsea Hotel. The Chelsea is a quirky historic hotel that caters to artists and celebrities. Anyway, a runaway girl also shows up at the apartment, apparently with the approval of Hudson's friend. This girl is trying to escape an arranged marriage. There's also a young man who shows up, and Hudson naturally thinks that those are the two lovers. But each of them keeps disappearing, and Hudson is trying hard to find them and reunite them. Meanwhile, someone is murdered on Hudson's doorstep, and quite a few residents have a reason to have wanted him dead. The two plotlines start to converge, and Hudson finds herself the target of killers who are mixed up in the whole affair.

As all Robin Hudson novels, the story is quirky and funny. But this seems to have a more serious element in it, and isn't quite as offbeat as the others. This could possibly be my favorite novel in the series.

"The Chelsea girl murders" by writer Sparkle Hayter is the fifth in a series of mystery novels about Robin Hudson. The only series I've ever gotten into as a mystery reader. Sparkle's writing is intelligent and witty. Even with the myriad assortment of characters throughout the story, they all serve a purpose and Sparkle is so good at making them all have meaning and not add confusion.
Robin's apartment building burns down, and she takes shelter at the "Chelsea". An out of town friend left her a key to her place there, and Sparkle takes advantage. Little does she know what she's about to get herself into. As she seems to do in all the stories. It is still extremely entertaining and a laugh out loud book.
What I love most about this book is Sparkle's witty dialogue, and how she chose the illustrious "Chelsea hotel" as her set.
This is worth reading if you like funny/mystery stories. Robin Hudson is a character I always look forward to reading more about.

Eileen F.

I really enjoyed Sparkle Hayter's other book, Naked Brunch and picked up all of her books. This one to me was not as tight as the earlier books in the series IMO. I still liked it, enjoyed taking another journey with Robin, but it didn't do as much for me. I definitely like the Nice Girls Finish Last a bit more.

I like how Sparkle Hayter throws amateur detective Robin Hudson into a ridiculous situation involving a murder and then has her figure her way out of it. Most mysteries are more straightforward, less wacky, and not as interesting. In my novel, the humor/adventure story "Bounties", I too have a female main character. And like Sparkle Hayter, I keep the plot going with humor, but of a different sort. A lot of her humor is in the wacky characters, whereas I try to generate laughs with funny dialogue and some physical humor. But hats off to Sparkle Hayter for choosing such a unique setting for a mystery.

After comparing the reviews of all the iMac books endlessly, this is the book I finally chose. Sadly, all that this book had to offer was all the stuff I already knew.

Another well-written book by Robin Williams. This book tells you everything you need to know about the iMac. Robin writes very clearly so that anyone can understand it. Has loads of useful information and website addresses to help you gain even more knowledge. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to know all about the new iMac's.

This book would be great for someone brand new to the macintosh world and has the new flat panel iMac. The authors have another book The Little Mac OS X Book which has about 400 more pages of info about OS X, while this book goes into much more detail about the programs the iMac ships with, like iPhoto,AppleWorks, ITunes etc. There are tutorials on doing basic spreadsheets,word,paint and drawings and it is explained in a very informative and fun manner, so that you know HOW to use ALL the features of your new mac and when you want to know more they tell you where to find that information. The book is very easy to read and it is fun to read.

The purpose of this book is to teach novice computer users some basic skills and to use an iMac. It takes a sort of duckies and bunnies approach to ensure that the novice user is able to grasp the information being presented. My wife is just the person this book is aimed at and, after spending a few minutes thumbing through the book at my local bookstore, I decided not to purchase it. The problem is sloppy proofreading. Two examples should suffice. On page 10 we are told that it costs "something like $19.95 a month" to connect to Earthlink while on page 21 the cost has become "about $21.95." On page 26 we learn that the optical mouse "doesn't have an actual button to press" while on page 27 we are told to "keep your finger pressed down on the button and pick up the mouse." (The iMac comes with Apple's optical mouse.) This might seem like nit-picking by me but a person new to computers is not going to gain confidence with discrepancies such as these. Nancy Davis is listed as the book's editor and production is by Robin Williams and John Tollett. Shame on you folks.

I've just switched from a PC to an iMac with OS X operating system and wish I hadn't. Not only has my new computer locked up at least 3 times in just a couple of days, but "Apple help"--which you can only access online--is worthless. Worse yet, there's essentially no "Help" material included on the machine's hard disk as there is with a Windows PC. ...After the support person revealed the missing steps to my husband we were unpleasantly surprised to learn that in the process of learning how to back-up a file on a CD we had turned two re-writable CDs into "read only" disks. This is a feature of Macintosh computers they don't mention in the "I switched to Apple" ads: if you use Apple software to burn your CDs, then once you put anything on a CD that's it. It is now a Read-Only CD no matter what it said on the label. ..."Apple Help" directed us to use "Disk Utility," and now that we've opened "Disk Utility" from two different locations we find that--surprise!--it won't erase our re-writable CD. It won't do anything, in fact: the menu pops up on the screen, but all the necessary buttons are dim rather than lit up. On an Apple machine, if a button is dim, you can't click on it. ...I'm sending the book back.

I think this book is very helpful for moms. It has a great breakdown of what foods you should introduce with every month, and how much the baby should be taking. (It's always best to double check with your physician though to make sure they're in agreement.) The recipes are also broken down by the baby's age which is very helpful. The recipes are also easy to make and understand. Unlike other baby cookbooks that made me feel guilty if I wasn't making my cereal from scratch this book is upbeat, helpful and easy to read. I've already bought three copies for myself, my mom (my daytime caregiver) and a friend, and plan to buy more copies for friends who are having babies. It also discusses the importance of organic and all-natural food for babies.

This cookbook is great. Its an ideal starting point for cooking for your baby. I really liked learning about using soy to help your baby get protein so you dont need to rely on meats. Soy is such a great and easy as well as cost effective protein source. I would esp recommend this book if the baby is vegetarian or has a restrictive diet.

I found this book to be very informative and containing all of the information I was looking for. I don't want to only feed my baby rice cereal and single ingredient fruits and vegetables for the 6th - 12th months. This book gives quite a variety of ideas for blending grains, beans, fruit, vegetables, pastas and yes - meats as well as tofu type options. I was thrilled to find recipes for teething biscuits and graham crackers. I made one of the recipes for blended cereal with beans, brown rice, sesame seeds, and few other things. After I cooked it I had to leave, so I stuck it in the fridge. When I came home it had really thickened up, much like slow cook oatmeal does after it sits. Instead of thinning it with more water, I rolled bits of it into pea-sized balls and gave those to my son as finger food. He ate them right up! I didn't have to sweeten it or blend with fruit or anything.

The recipes are not broken down by age, but by meal category instead. The appropriate ages are listed very clearly at the bottom of each recipe. Some reviewers complain that there are few recipes for 6-8 months old. Shouldn't you be going through new foods one at a time during those two months to determine food sensitivities anyway? Eggs are an ingredient in some of the bread recipes. Citrus, milk, and honey are also ingredients for 10 months and up, but since they are cooked in the recipe, they hold no health threat like the raw forms do. Besides, it's recomended that milk not be given as a beverage for children under 1 year because of the propensity for children to choose the cow's milk over breast milk or formula and thus not getting the proper nutrition out of it. Eggs are cautioned against because of the allergenic properties in the whites, not the yolk. So use you own judgement with those recipes. Finally, yes, some of the recipes call for butter and spices, but don't most parents start giving their children food off their own plate containing these itmes as their children's teeth start coming in?

This book really is a great resource for those who desire to give their children the best food they possibly can without the boredom and unhealthy additives that most pre-packaged baby foods contain. Perhaps some of those who gave negative reviews need to start using some common sense and think for themselves for a change.

This book is divided into breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack etc sections. Throughout the sections are ideas for babies 8 months and up and 10 months and up. Very few recipes are for babies 6-8 months. Flipping through the book to find age appropriate recipes is very frustrating since they are divided by meals instead of age. The book also introduces foods for babies 8-12 months that my pediatrician recommended waiting to introduce until after the first year. The book includes recipes for citrus fruits and eggs. The authors include soy and tofu recipes rather than many meat recipes. So for those planning to introduce their baby to meats around 9 months or older, this is not the book for you. I found some of the recipes overly simple--ones that I could have thought up myself-such as apples and apricots (simply steaming and then blending the two fruits). Other recipes seemed to complicated and two advanced for the age group recommended such as the wild mushroom soup made with onion and olive oil--for ages 8 months and up. This book does have some fun recipe ideas but many of them can be made if you are simply creative in trying fruit, veggie, and meat blends.

I bought this book based on others' reviews and because I wanted to make healthy food for my 6 month old. Right off, I realized this isn't the book I wanted. They only have about 2 maybe 3 recipes for 6 months olds, so this book is better for older babies and toddlers. The authors talk about introducing egg yolk at 7 months. My pediatrician told us to wait until a year old for eggs. Also, they have recipes for citrus fruit for 8 months, which we were also told to wait until a year. The authors talk about a vegan lifestyle and how to get your baby started on that. My husband and I are not vegetarian, so if your like us, I would not recommend this book. If you are, maybe you would like it. They also talk about soy and tofu, which I don't plan on giving my baby.

Bottom line, I really didn't like this book. I would highly recommend Blender Baby Food (see review).

This subject has always attracted controversy as to what really happened to the two princes. It is however expressed in a way which leaves the door still slightly ajar for the readers own assumption. I liked this book very much I liked the authors style of writing and the wonderful way it has been told through the eyes of two very different ladies one a royel born the other a commoner with a lasting bond of firm frienship which endures through many trials and tribulations. A great read and I highly recommend it.

What a waste of my time and money! This is the authosr's second book that I read, and I beleive the last. If you like historical fiction this is not for you. I don't think the characters are well developed, she had a wonderful piece of history to work on and did not do it justice. As someone wrote here before maybe the author was influenced by Hollywood because the explosions and the involvement of women of the time ( especially a princess ) on the "action packed" part is somewhat unbelievable. Sometimes the book made me feel it was written for teens.

3.5 stars

Ms. Maxwell's take on what happened to the two sons of Edward IV who disappeared from the Tower of London shortly after Richard III "usurped" the crown from the eldest of them adds a clever layer to the two most commonly told versions of this story (that Richard III had them murdered, or that he was innocent & uninvolved and the Duke of Buckingham did it in attempt to gain the crown for himself).

I absolutely love the possibility of Margaret Beaufort's involvement which Maxwell has added in this story. Her ambitiousness, political machniations and involvement in intrigue have been well documented. It's entirely plausable to see her as the pupeteer behind Buckingham... however, other aspects of Maxwell's take on how she and Buckingham may have been involved are completely far-fetched. This story provides a "happy ending" to a tale that simply could not have ended so. In writing it as thus, Maxwell pushes the reader beyond the bounds of believability and left this particular one feeling quite disappointed after reading 7/8 of the story only to find a Hollywood ending complete with explosions.

Maxwell relies on an overly used formula to set the stage for the story. The main character, Nell Caxton, is uncommonly educated for a woman of her time, has maintained a childhood friendship with Princess Elizabeth and thus has access to Royal circles, and yet is so likeable and street smart that she is also friends with every street-dwelling pauper and prostitute in the vacinity of Westminster. Nell's cleverness also opens doors to romance with a man of the court, a position as tutor to the young king-to-be, and an appointment as scribe to Margaret Beaufort. Nell has a surprising amount of unchaperoned time, much of which she manages to spend with her also-strangely-unchaperoned princess friend. As one would expect, the girls even get to sneak around undetected disguised as young men.

Despite the kitsch formula and over-the-top ending, the book is entertaining. The story of Richard of York / Richard III and his ascention to the throne and coinciding disappearance of the Princes in the Tower has intrigued the public for 500+ years. Maxwell has contributed a smart, mostly plausable and formerly unexplored possible answer to the mystery.

(This review was first published in The Historical Novels Review, Issue 34, November 2005 - ISSN 1471-7492)
The disappearance and alleged murder of Edward IV's young sons in the Tower has fueled centuries of speculation, both in fiction and nonfiction. Shakespeare was one of the first dramatists to peg the crime on Richard III, in part because the playwright lived under Elizabeth I, a Tudor. The Tudors were invested in having history record Richard III as the perpetrator, seeing as Henry VII had killed Richard in battle, founding the Tudor line. Nevertheless, a staunch cadre of Richard III defenders believes he was not to blame. The princes themselves were never seen again, and on this intriguing, if oft-explored, mystery does Robin Maxwell build her fourth novel, as told through Nell Caxton, daughter of an innovative English printer, and Princess Elizabeth (Bessie) of York, the doomed princes' sister. Maxwell has shown her skill in previous historicals, most notably her masterful The Wild Irish; here, she moves back in time to the tumultuous final days of Edward IV's reign and Richard III's usurpation of his nephew's throne. The history itself offers a compelling story line, with the added dimension of the entrepreneurial Caxton family, and we are quickly swept into the chaotic events leading to the princes' disappearance. Maxwell conjures an intelligent, credible alternative to the Richard III theory, with Nell unraveling the mystery. Nell is an engaging lead, a commoner whose educational skills and familial connections allow her to penetrate the royal circle. The tale is accessible even to English history novices, and Maxwell's scheming Buckingham, icy Elizabeth Woodville, and implacable Margaret Beaufort offer a complex glimpse into the often-lethal struggle for power at court.

This is the first book by this author that I've read. I only chose it because it has to do with Richard III and the Princes in the Tower, a mystery that has always fascinated me.

I'm not going through the storyline here, as numerous reviewers before me have already done so. The main question is, who was responsible for the disappearance of the Princes?

Ms. Maxwell's answer as to the identity of the culprit is clever and credible (psychologically and historically speaking), but the whole rescue-of-the-princes scene is such a stretch it's not believable for one second.

Also, though Ms. Maxwell did read some previous books of the subject, she didn't assimilate them very well and makes several historical mistakes, like the people in the crowd circa 1500 referring to Richard III as a hunchback. If they lived at the time, they should have known he was no such thing, that's only Shakespeare's take on it. Besides, by general accounts, Richard III was loved in his time. He was a good king for the little time he had ruling England.

She also absolves Henry VII from the crime on the grounds that he wasn't in England at the time. She obviously didn't read, or conveniently forgot, Josephine Tey's and others' theories that the Princes were alive and well when Henry Tudor took over the Tower (which was not a prison at the time, but a royal residence) and that he (supposedly) only did away with them after he took the throne. Another theory of course is that they were never murdered at all.

Being a stickler for at least some historical accuracy even in a work of historical fiction, that irked me and detracted from my enjoyment of an otherwise entertaining book. I liked Nell Caxton's romance with Lord Rivers, and the fact (which might be true) that Elizabeth of York was in love with Richard III.

The ending left one hanging, because the two friends, Nell and Bessie, tell the whole "true" story to the future Henry VIII. What good did it do? We all know he didn't lift a single finger to rehabilitate his great-uncle's memory. Actually he finished what his father had started, killing off what was left of the heirs of York. And what became of the Princes after they were rescued is also left to the reader's imagination. It would have been nice if she had hinted at the "pretender and impostor" Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be the younger of the two princes during a rebellion under Henry VII.

All in all, I did enjoy the story but purely as a work of suspense/mystery fiction. As historical fiction, it was sadly disappointing.