The Princess Spy

September 22, 2014
Dickerson (The Healer’s Apprentice) is off her game in this medieval historical romance set in early 15th-century Germany. Margaretha, the eponymous princess, is being wooed by the English noble Rowland Fortescue, Earl of Claybrook, whose foppish hats she rather dislikes. Into Margaretha’s German stronghold arrives an injured Englishman, Colin le Wyse, whose situation is tied to Claybrook.
Colin’s startling disclosures force Margaretha to spy on her potential betrothed and act to save her family, as Colin and the princess slowly develop a relationship of warmth and trust. Title notwithstanding, the princess doesn’t do a lot of spying, and the potential for adventure in the story is underdeveloped. The Snidely Whiplash of a villain is portrayed with a painful lack of subtlety, and Margaretha is similarly characterized by stereotype (she is repeatedly referred to as a talkative flibbertigibbet, though more evidence is provided of her resourcefulness than of her flightiness). Sparks between Margaretha and Colin are well-rendered, but not enough to redeem a by-the-numbers story. Ages 15–up. Agency: Books & Such Literary Agency. (Nov.)■