Dorothy Dunnett’s PAWN IN FRANKINCENSE – Adventure in an Exotic Locale…Topkapi!

Pawn in Frankincense is book 4 in the Lymond Chronicles. This one takes us to the Ottoman empire where a young child is hidden and the evil Gabriel, thought dead, still lives, serving the sultan. Francis Crawford of Lymond, soldier of fortune and the exiled heir of Scottish nobility, is now the Ambassador to the King of France, and searching for the child he believes is his by his Irish mistress. He would ransom the child with his fortune but the sultan refuses. And another child emerges to confuse things. Each child is a pawn and Francis struggles to save them both while staying alive.

 

Philippa emerges as a smart, witty heroine, courageous in her defense of one of the child pawns. Her lift will be bound up with Lymond’s as he seeks to save her honor after she has been in the sultan’s harem.

 

An adventure with many twists and turns and authentic in its history, details and descriptions. This one culminates in a masterful chess game where the pieces are real people and, if taken, will die. Lymond, drugged by Gabriel, plays for his life and the lives of his friends—and the two young children, the pawns.

 

Dunnett, once again, delivers the heart of a brooding heroic figure. For all he suffers unjustly, Lymond will again triumph.

 

A great installment in the Lymond Chronicles.

 

The Game of Kings

Queens’ Play

The Disorderly Knights

Pawn in Frankincense

The Ringed Castle

Checkmate