Rizzio: Darkland Tales cover art

Rizzio: Darkland Tales

Darkland Tales

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

Rizzio: Darkland Tales

By: Denise Mina
Narrated by: Katie Leung
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £8.49

Buy Now for £8.49

FROM THE AWARD-WINNING DENISE MINA COMES A RADICAL NEW TAKE ON ONE OF THE DARKEST EPISODES IN SCOTTISH HISTORY - THE BLOODY MURDER OF DAVID RIZZIO.

This breathtakingly tense work is a tale of sex, seduction, secrets and lies, one that looks at history through a modern lens and explores the lengths that men – and women – will go to in the search for love and power.

It's Saturday evening, 9 March 1566, and Mary, Queen of Scots, is six months pregnant. She's hosting a supper party. Outside, Edinburgh is bustling. It’s full of the Great and the Good and the Idiot Sons of the Rich, here for a Parliament that will take Scotland by the shoulders and turn it from England to face Europe.

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 ...

'Bestseller Mina vividly recreates a gruesome episode from the Tudor era in this searing novella set mostly over the course of a single day, Mar. 9, 1566. Mina interjects well-wrought characterizations; this superior historical thriller reads like a real-life episode of Game of Thrones' - Publishers Weekly (starred)

'darkly compelling, riveting' -- Sam Baker

'The cream of the crop, an author who pushes the crime novel in new and exciting directions' -- Ian Rankin

'May be Britain's finest living crime novelist' ? Daily Telegraph

'Denise Mina brilliantly manages to be funny, heart-wrenching, gut-punching and addictive all at once' --Nicci French

One of the most talented, most daring, most humane writers of the past twenty years, an artist whose thrillers d'ouble as bracing moral inquiries' --A. J. Finn

'a writer of huge skill and inventiveness who blends tense, well-crafted crime fiction with social conscience and historical weight' --The Bookseller Action & Adventure Historical Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Scotland Crime Murder
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Continue the series
Queen Macbeth cover art
Queen Macbeth By: Val McDermid
All stars
Most relevant
Some books don't hold your attention because they're too dull, too long, or just don't sound believable.

This isn't one. Although we know what's going to happen and when it's going to occur, fiction allows us to consider what the innermost thoughts may have been - and unlike the history books, to hear the story from a feminine perspective.

A Gem Fit for a Queen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is an interesting view of proceedings in the Mary, Queen of Scots story. Other than the undeniable facts, I am not sure how historically accurate this may be - would we ever know, unless we had been there - but it certainly gives a contemporary feel to imagined conversations.

The story is minus one star as it was very short to merit the cost of an Audible credit.

The narrator - Katy Leung is a Scot, her accent is good for the story - but my goodness she is monotone and her pronunciation of certain words is really not good. “The Earl of Mow Rae” - how American is that?! She also narrated Val McDermid’s ‘1979’ book which was also spoiled by her mispronunciation of words. I am totally flummoxed as to how a Scot could get it so wrong - and also so right in accent?!

Mary, Queen of Scots

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Well read in a strong Scottish burr.
Short character sketches no less vivid for their brevity. Tension and momentum perfectly managed.

Short and vivid recreation of a historical moment

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've always had a life long fascination with the life & reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, so bought this as soon as my credit renewed. Read it soon after publication, during the 2021 Lockdown.

This short Novella perfectly conveys the claustrophobic nature of the events of Rizzio's Murder; and the dangers for Mary herself.

Katie Leung's narration is, on the whole good; although a few of her male voices do sound pretty similar. Very enjoyable

2021 Reads: A Perfect Lockdown Read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As ever, Denise Mina tells a brilliant story and she never veers away from harsh realities. Read well with a voice that took some time to adjust to as at first, the voice seems flat and monotone but after listening several times, this apparent lack of emotion in the narrators voice, serves the tale well. Thank you.

History told as her story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews