Unnatural Murder

This might have been the first book I've really read about the court of King James I of England and Anne Somerset does excellent scenery-setting. James, descended from the line of Henry VIII's sister Margaret after she married into Scottish royalty, became king on the death of Elizabeth I. He had a bit of a messy personal life after his ascension, marrying a woman and impregnating her several times before becoming openly much more interested in the company of men, generally maintaining a “favorite” young and attractive man with whom he was openly affectionate and tightly bonded. One such favorite was Robert Carr, who became the Earl of Somerset at the King's wish. The Earl was lavishly gifted with power, land, and money, but wasn't really smart enough to manage it all and enlisted the help of his friend, Sir Thomas Overbury. The duo worked well together until the Earl fell for Frances Howard, widely regarded as the most beautiful woman at court. Their romance had a major obstacle, though: Frances had been already married as a teenager, and though the marriage was miserable and remained unconsummated even years later, divorce was not available. James wasn't jealous of his kept man's new relationship, but Overbury was, and tried to keep the lovers apart, including by saying awful things about Frances, who was trying to get her marriage annulled (which was a whole other drama). A pretense was established for Overbury to be thrown into the Tower, where he died some months later. Frances won her suit and married Somerset and had a baby and everything looked rosy for a bit, until two circumstances converged to the Earl's detriment: James took an interest in a new, younger man, and it was alleged that Overbury had died by poisoning. It did not take very much work to find out that Frances had sent poisoned things to Overbury in prison. Trials ensued. This is an actual history book, not pop history, though it's filled with enough scandal to keep things quite lively. The scene-setting was the part I personally enjoyed the most, since I knew so little about this period of history and it turns out it was wild! The trials (both Frances's nullity suit against her first husband, the Earl of Essex, and the several trials of participants in the poisoning conspiracy) are recounted at length, and while Somerset generally keeps things moving along, these portions do drag a little bit. Many documents are unavailable and Somerset is forced to rely on secondhand accounts, which leaves gaps in the narrative. Somerset's analysis of the key players and how their flaws played into the outcomes that resulted is concise and insightful, I'll definitely read more of her work but this is not one that I see myself coming back to.