Dorothy Dunnett – författare

Before George R. R. Martin there was Dorothy Dunnett . . . THE PERFECT GIFT for fans of A Game of Thrones.'She is a brilliant story teller, The Lymond Chronicles will keep you reading late into the night, desperate to know the fate of the characters you have come to care deeply about.' The Times Literary SupplementCheckmate is the sixth and final book in the series -----------------------------'If they place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left and ask me to give up my mission, I will not give it up until the truth prevails or I myself perish in the attempt . . .'It is 1557 and legendary Scottish warrior Francis Crawford of Lymond is once more in France. There he is leading an army to rout the hated English from Calais. Yet while Lymond seeks victory on the battlefield he is haunted by his troubled past - chiefly the truth about his origins and his marriage (in name only) to young Englishwoman Philippa Somerville. As the French offer him a way out of his marriage and his wife appears in France on a mission of her own, the final moves are made in a great game that has been playing out over an extraordinary decade of war, love and struggle - bringing the Lymond Chronicles to a spellbinding close.'A masterpiece of historical fiction' Washington Post'Melodrama of the most magnificent kind' The Guardian

The exquisitely-researched standalone prequel series to Dorothy Dunnett's revered Lymond Chronicles, following the ancestors of Francis Crawford of Lymond in Continental Europe.Race of Scorpions is Book Three in The House of Niccolo series.----------------------------- 'Who's the lady in trouble, Master Nicholas?''She's not a lady. She's a Queen called Carlotta.'It is 1462 and Carlotta, the young Queen of Jerusalem, Cyprus and Armenia, is besieged by brigands at a farm on the winter road to Bologna when Nicholas vander Poele rides to her rescue - and into deeper trouble.Now the head of his own private army, Nicholas finds himself a sought-after man by both Carlotta and her half-brother, James. Each lays claim to the throne of Cyprus and each seeks to persuade Nicholas - in more ways than one - to lend his cunning and might to their cause.As Christians and Muslims, merchants and Mamelukes, the Pope, the Sultan and the Knights of St John wrangle over Cyprus's future, it falls to Nicholas to juggle adversaries and allies to free himself from this conspiracy of scorpions . . .'The excitement of Dunnett's storytelling runs hand-in-hand with the erudition of her research' The Times

The exquisitely-researched standalone prequel series to Dorothy Dunnett's revered Lymond Chronicles, following the ancestors of Francis Crawford of Lymond in Continental Europe.Scales of Gold is Book Four in The House of Niccolo series.-----------------------------'You know what is drawing him? He is going to the market no white men attend. He is going to sail up the River of Gold.'In the Spring of 1464 Nicholas vander Poele returns to Venice in time to witness a plot to wipe out Casa de Niccolo - his own bank. Near-ruined, he secures a ship, a crew and sails for the one place he is confident none of his rivals would dare follow - Africa.Yet Nicholas is disconcerted to find he is racing against another vessel as they head for the fabled lands of Prester John and his fountains of gold, where strangers and plunderers alike are treated with suspicion.But nothing will turn Nicholas away from the glittering prize he seeks - Timbuktu, the legendary city by the desert edge . . .'A glorious panorama of medieval times. The historical research is impeccable' Sunday Express

The exquisitely-researched standalone prequel series to Dorothy Dunnett's revered Lymond Chronicles, following the ancestors of Francis Crawford of Lymond in Continental Europe.The Unicorn Hunt is Book Five in The House of Niccolo series.-----------------------------'Rich, newly wed, with a palatial banking house, a busy fleet, a small army, why should Nicholas vander Poele choose to travel to Edinburgh?'That is the question on everyone's lips in the Autumn of 1468 - especially those of his enemy, Simon de St Pol of Kilmirren, who seeks nothing less than the destruction of the House of Niccolo and its cunning head.But Nicholas soon proves that there are very good mercantile reasons for expanding his trading empire into the north. They also help to conceal his attempts to discover the true father of the child his vengeful wife insists is not his own.From Scotland to the Tyrol, Cairo to Cyprus, Nicholas pursues a truth that many fear will destroy him and everything he has tried to build . . .'Terrifically exciting. Some wonderful set-pieces and a cliff-hanging climax' The Times

The exquisitely-researched standalone prequel series to Dorothy Dunnett's revered Lymond Chronicles, following the ancestors of Francis Crawford of Lymond in Continental Europe.To Lie With Lions is Book Six in The House of Niccolo series.-----------------------------'We are going to the Westmann Isles. We are going to tamper with Nature, defy law and cheat pirates. We are going to sail the stiffening ocean to Iceland.'It is 1471 and Nicholas de Fleury has confounded the Lions of Europe - the courts of England, France, Burgundy, Venice and Cyprus. The very future of the continent hinges on the fate of his bank, the enigmatic House of Niccolo.Yet Nicholas' attention appears to lie elsewhere. Having overcome the schemings of his wife, Gelis, he now seeks a truce. He looks north to the lands of ice and fire, and new treasure to wrestle from the hands of rivals.And, in Edinburgh, there is a play to perform - one that might have repercussions for those puzzled but powerful Lions . . .'Imaginative, scholarly and compelling' Mail on Sunday

The exquisitely-researched standalone prequel series to Dorothy Dunnett's revered Lymond Chronicles, following the ancestors of Francis Crawford of Lymond in Continental Europe.Spring of the Ram is Book Two in The House of Niccolo series.----------------------------- 'Catherine de Charetty, having chosen a lover just after the Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross, was much put out to learn that, at nearly thirteen, she did not possess all the required qualifications . . .'Yet her secret suitor, Pagano Doria, claims he will wait and spirits her away from Bruges, first to Florence and then eastwards. On their trail is Nicholas vander Poele, her step-father, conducting his own journey to the fabled city of Trebizond, a Byzantine outpost on the Black Sea.Known as the treasure-house of the East, Trebizond in 1461 is the ideal location for Nicholas to open the House of Niccolo's new trading post. However, the city's riches are threated by a Turkish army while rival merchant families seek to thwart Nicholas' ambitions.Not least among them is Doria himself, harbouring a plan involving young Catherine to rain ruin on the head of House Niccolo. . .'A sorceress of the genre' Daily Mail

The exquisitely-researched standalone prequel series to Dorothy Dunnett's revered Lymond Chronicles, following the ancestors of Francis Crawford of Lymond in Continental Europe.Niccolo Rising is Book One in The House of Niccolo series.----------------------------- 'It began with sea, and September sunlight, and three young men lying stripped to their doublets in the Duke of Burgundy's bath . . .'Meet Caes - Nicholas vander Poele - an eighteen-year-old orphan and dyer apprentice's working for the widow Marian de Charetty in Bruges. After fetching up in jail for accidentally sinking a lighter and breaking the leg of a nobleman, his young life seems over before it is even begun.However, fate and the fifteenth century have great expectations for Nicholas and he soon finds himself leading the Charetty company into adventures and intrigues both mercantile and military, even as enemies plot their downfall.Through cunning, bravery, wit and an unexpected wisdom, Nicholas begins to lay the foundations for the House of Niccolo . . .'As brilliant and interesting as Lymond. A generous feast' Daily Telegraph'A series that will give us our fill of high Renaissance adventure and espionage' Guardian

The exquisitely-researched standalone prequel series to Dorothy Dunnett's revered Lymond Chronicles, following the ancestors of Francis Crawford of Lymond in Continental Europe.Gemini is Book Eight in The House of Niccolo series.-----------------------------'Landing in Berwick that wild, February day, Nicholas de Fleury had known that he was mad to come back to Scotland, but that it had to be done.'The winter of 1477 is coming to a close as Nicholas, his fortunes restored, returns to the country he nearly ruined to make amends and to settle old scores - and is immediately set upon by assassins.Yet it is not long before he is established at the court of King James III, using his wits and wiles to help steer the kingdom through the storms of trade and war ravaging the continent.With his wife Gelis once more by his side, Nicholas knows a reckoning must be made with his estranged family as the final loose strands of his story entwine together in the concluding volume of the House of Niccolo.'An extraordinary achievement' Daily Telegraph

'A storyteller who could teach Scheherazade a thing or two about pace, suspense and imaginative invention'New York TimesTHE REAL MACBETH . . . It is the eleventh century and in the isles of Orkney a young boy is born. He is named Thorfinn, baptized as Macbeth. To the north are the warring Vikings and south lies Alba - the Scottish mainland. Orkney is the prize in between, and an unlikely place from which a young man might launch a bid as ruler of a united Scotland.Yet Thorfinn is unlike other men. He has a warrior's courage and the wiliness of the underdog. By his side stands his wife Groa, as shrewd and valiant as her husband. Together they will navigate the treacherous waters of the new millennium, uniting a divided nation and birthing a legend that will survive a thousand years.Thorfinn Macbeth will be King Hereafter . . .'Stunning' Washington Post

Rita, a small, tough Scottish make-up artist, is on Madeira investigating who killed Kim-Jim, an American make-up supremo. Also anchored off the island is Dolly, the yacht of Johnson Johnson with whom Rita teams up to get to the bottom of this foul deed.Rita’s fighting spirits are aroused despite the danger. She is not one for quitting, even when she learns she is caught up in an international drug-smuggling ring.But she also discovers that dealing with the maddeningly enigmatic Johnson Johnson is, by no stretch of the imagination, plain sailing.

Tina Rossi, the world’s leading coloratura soprano, has travelled to Edinburgh, ostensibly to sing in the Festival,  in reality to meet her lover, top scientist Kenneth Holmes. But instead of finding Kenneth at their rendezvous, she discovers an unknown corpse.Enter Johnson Johnson, a famous but enigmatic portrait painter whose yacht Dolly is about to sail in a race to the Hebrides where Holmes was conducting his top-secret research.Soon Tina and Johnson are sailing the high seas  to investigate Holmes' disappearance, but as Dolly nears Rum, the race has become one for life rather than prize money…

When Sarah Cassells, a young British woman who has just completed her training as a chef, hears of her father’s violent death on Ibiza, she refuses to believe it is suicide. She heads to Ibiza to investigate and soon gets caught up with an art dealer; two beautiful jet-setters; a remarkable American woman who is not what she seems – and with Johnson Johnson, the mysterious portrait painter who shows up on his yacht, Dolly.As Ibiza prepares to celebrate Holy Week with the traditional processions, events become more and more macabre…

Dr B. MacRannoch is in the Bahamas with her father who has moved there from Scotland because of asthma. She is a savvy and tough young woman who shows much independence of mind and spirit.However, when Sir Bart Edgecome, a British agent who has been poisoned with arsenic, falls ill on his way back from New York, she becomes involved in a series of events beyond her wildest imagination.Drawn into an espionage plot with multiple suspects, it is only the presence of enigmatic portrait painter Johnson Johnson on his yacht, Dolly, that saves the day. But nothing is quite as straightforward as it at first seems.

If Ruth had stayed on leave, none of it might have happened. An astronomer working at the Maurice Frazer Observatory, Ruth Russell is enjoying her time in Rome.That is until Charles Digham, top fashion photographer and Ruth’s lover, has his camera stolen and the thief ends up a headless corpse in the zoo park toletta. The enigmatic Johnson Johnson, in Rome to paint a portrait of the Pope, is on hand to unravel the mystery.But as Johnson and Ruth begin the search for clues it soon becomes clear that more is at stake than the secrets of a couture house… something far more deadly.

To all appearances Joanna Emerson is a fully qualified, gold-medalled graduate of the world’s finest college of Nursery Nurses…Engaged as a nanny to Benedict, newly born heir to a vast cosmetic fortune, she becomes caught up in a complex kidnap plot. But the enigmatic portrait painter, yachtsman and former spy, Johnson Johnson is never far away – and he knows the dangerous game she’s playing.Before long, bullets are flying, and most of them in Joanna’s direction.