The Tournament (#516) is a real departure for thriller author Matthew Reilly. Here, he's turned his hand to a mystery featuring the young Princess Elizabeth Tudor and her renowned teacher Roger Ascham as the sleuths for murders committed at the Court of Suleiman the Magnificent during an invitation-only Chess Tournament. Elizabeth learns valuable lessons in both statecraft and life.
I don't know much about chess, but Reilly includes enough background in his chapter introductions to give the ignorant reader a clue about what's happening during the matches. (I'm not a card player, either, so all those tense shots around the poker table in movies or TV are totally wasted on me!) The setting in Constantinople at the height of its glory during the Ottoman Empire is an interesting choice for placing Elizabeth Tudor, and although the tournament itself is fiction, the author provides a plausible reason and circumstances for Elizabeth to keep this journey clandestine until she finally reveals the details on her deathbed to her lifelong friend and companion.
This exotic setting also provides Reilly a chance to indulge his harem fantasies. Who does Elizabeth travel with? Her esteemed teacher, Roger Ascham, Gilbert Giles, England's chosen chess champion, the Primroses, her proper chaperones who are taken out of the action early on, and Elsie, her slutty friend. Elsie is the character the reviewers mean when they tag this book with the adjective "lusty". Personally, I could have done without her, but since his previous best sellers have been relatively chaste, I suppose this was a chance for Reilly to cut loose and write about sex. Oh, and to give Elsie her due, she does provide one clue to solving the series of murders, and she returns to England a sadder but wiser "English Rose".
Overall, an entertaining read, and a genre I hope Matthew Reilly returns to in the future.
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