The Ringed Castle

From the silken palace of Suleiman the Magnificent to the barbaric court of Ivan the Terrible: Lymond is bound for Russia, where he fights his way to a position second only to the young Tsar himself. It is a world away from his homeland, now sheltering Philippa Somerville, his wife in name only, and the child they rescued in Constantinople.

The Ringed Castle is the fifth book in the series





Sixteen-year-old Philippa Somerville has left Constantinople intact. Returning to England as wife in name only to Francis Crawford of Lymond, she wastes no time in seeking the truth about her new spouse, even as she finds herself navigating the paranoid court of Queen Mary.

Lymond, meanwhile, arrives in Moscow to assist its young Tsar Ivan to create a fledgling Russian army. But when he is tasked to visit London as Ivan's envoy his path is bound to cross that of the wife he has sworn to divorce.

Yet neither Lymond nor Philippa, caught up in their own scheming, can quite see the vast conspiracy enshrouding them . . .

The Times

The Guardian