Rizzio: Darkland Tales

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Rizzio thinks that, if Darnley wanted him dead, he could run him through right here. Rizzio knows something is going on, but something is always going on – that’s how it is in the orbit of regal power.

Thomas Finlayson Henderson, Mary, Queen of Scots: Her Environment and Tragedy, 2 (New York, 1905), p. 654 Yair hates everyone here and he especially hates tennis. Tennis is what is wrong with people. Yair is very pale, his eyes rimmed red because he hasn’t been sleeping. He’s watchful, sees plots everywhere. He thinks in binaries: good/bad, man/woman, Calvinist/Catholic, for God/ against God. Once fervently Catholic, he is now ferociously Calvinist. When he saw the Truth, he embraced it, and he hates those who don’t, those Catholic hold-outs: how can they hold on to these broken old ideas? How can they defend a church so corrupt, so murderous, such a betrayal of the one true faith? They disgust him. He doesn’t know how they can live with themselves.Joseph Stevenson, The History of Mary Stewart: From the Murder of Riccio Until Her Flight Into England by Claude Nau (Edinburgh, 1883), pp. 16, 227. Robert Stedall, The Challenge to the Crown: The Struggle for Influence in the Reign of Mary Queen of Scots (Book Guild Publishing, 2012), p. 191. Mary, Queen of Scots at the Palace of Holyroodhouse: A Creative Writing Resource for Teachers – Palace of Holyrood House It’s the story of the assassination of David Rizzio, the secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots. One night, on a whim, he was murdered - not just by one person, but by a group who came together for this purpose. The story is tense, gritty, and dark. It feels like an historical crime thriller because this really happened even though all the details aren’t known. Also, Mary, Queen of Scots? She’s one of the most fascinating historical figures of which I’ve read, and I never tire of stories surrounding her life. What fictionalised true crime can do … David Oluwale, who was found dead in the River Aire near Leeds in April 1969. Photograph: PA

Amazingly for an award-winning writer, by that stage she hadn’t caught the reading bug, “I didn’t read at all, I couldn’t read til I was about nine,” she explains, “then I went on a really bad holiday with some girlfriends and I sat and read fantastic books on the beach.” Flood, Alison (20 July 2012). "Denise Mina wins crime novel of the year award". The Guardian . Retrieved 20 July 2012. Diehard history enthusiasts (such as myself) may understandably meet “Rizzio” with a fair share of trepidation and reluctance; as “Rizzio” is not a typical, fleshed-out historical-fiction novel re-telling history. Instead, Mina presents a unique take on the murder of David Rizzio that combines elements of a modern-day satire, psychological thriller and historical character study that reads like the premise synopsis of a stage play. Yet, “Rizzio” is successful and impactful achieving a level of emotion that many historical fiction novels fail at even in longer lengths. It is pleasantly cool in the tennis court but Rizzio is sweating. His clothes are damp and his heart is hitting a steady fast rhythm. He’s still fit and able and gives thanks to God for it. Good health is a rare gift at the age of thirty-two.

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George Buchanan wrote in 1581 that David was first buried outside the door of Holyrood Abbey, and then Mary arranged for him to be buried in the tomb of her father James V and Madeleine of France within. Buchanan described this circumstance as reflecting badly on the Queen. Fearing that Mary's son, James VI, would suppress his book, Buchanan's friend James Melville tried to get Buchanan to rewrite the passage while the book was at the printers. Buchanan asked his cousin, Thomas Buchanan, a schoolmaster in Stirling, if he thought the story was true, and the cousin agreed. The story was published. [40] I loved what Denise Mina did with the insane Henry Yair, and the 'afterwards' section, when we read what happened to Mary in the years to follow and, most interesting of all, what happened to the Queen's apartments at Holyrood Palace. Fascinating. I have to look up more about this! Polygon has bought UK, Commonwealth and European rights (all languages) to Another Way to Split Water, and will publish in summer 2022. Mary doesn’t know that her Palace is surrounded – that, right now, an army of men is creeping upstairs to her chamber. They’re coming to murder David Rizzio, her friend and secretary, the handsome Italian man who is smiling across the table at her. Mary’s husband wants it done in front of her and he wants her to watch it done… About the Author After the marriage, rumours became rife that Mary was having an adulterous affair with Rizzio. [15] It was said (in 1568) that Mary and Darnley's love decayed after they returned from the Chaseabout Raid, "she using the said David more like a lover than a servant, forsaking her husband's bed". [16] According to a French diplomat's report, Darnley had discovered Rizzio in the closet of Mary's bedchamber at Holyroodhouse in the middle of the night dressed only in a fur gown over his shirt. [17] Wealth, possessions and costume [ edit ]