The Lymond Chronicles 01 - The Game of Kings

Living mostly by his wits and his sword-arm in 16th-century Scotland, Francis Crawford of Lymond is a charismatic figure: polyglot scholar, soldier, musician, master of disguises, nobleman—and accused outlaw. After five years exile, Lymond has recently returned to Scotland, in defiance of Scottish charges against him for treason on behalf of the English and murder. He has assembled a private band of mercenaries and ruffians who follow his ruthless, despotic leadership. The reader only gradually learns that Lymond has returned for a single goal: to prove his innocence and restore his name, he must find the man who framed him and condemned him to two years as a French galley slave until he managed to escape.

The novel is constructed as a clockwork mystery: an intricate web of many moving parts, punctuated by set pieces of adventure, high comedy, or intense drama. The suspense is whether Lymond will prove himself innocent, die in the attempt, or be captured and hanged. The mystery is "who is Lymond?" Dunnett reveals only gradually, with tantalizing hints and small details, Lymond's motives and his true relationships with the other characters.