Linda LeBlanc
A Fair Knight Slain
A murder mystery at a Renaissance Fair
Work with detectives Sara and Ryker in the murder mystery at a Renaissance fair.
Sara/Ryker Mysteries Book 1
A knight’s brutal death exposes political intrigue and romantic rivalries in a murder mystery at a Renaissance fair. Detectives Sara and Ryker are worlds apart. She’s a former wilderness adventure racer; he’s overweight and never left the city. Both are dealing with past traumas and losses. If the case goes unsolved before the fair ends in nine days, their boss will lose the mayoral election to a drug lord.
The murder mystery setting bustles with colorful costumes, music, and lingering aromas. Sara and Ryker must sort through a motley crew of suspects: knights, Scots, a crazed Viking, an adulterous queen, blacksmith, falconer, belly dancer, and fortune teller.
In the murder mystery, after-hour parties in the Scot and Roma camps are rife with complex layers of deceit, power struggles, jealousies, and romantic intrigue intertwining suspects in multiple twists and turns.
Ryker goes undercover to find dirt on the drug lord. In the surprise ending, a shocking detail sends Sara on a perilous pursuit of the killer through the Okefenokee Swamp.
Character types found in the Renaissance Fair murder mystery
A wild Viking.
A belly dancer
A falconer
Jousting knights
Reviews of the murder mystery
Assessment of the murder mystery by a reviewer for Publisher's Weekly on BookLife Prize
Plot/Idea: Set against the backdrop of a Florida Renaissance Fair and the broader Florida environs, A Fair Knight Slain is a rip-roaring mystery infused with heart and humor.
Prose: The author's prose excels during descriptive passages and action sequences. Dialogue is snappy and creates a propulsive hook.
Originality: The work's delightful Renaissance Fair setting swiftly sets A Fair Knight Slain apart. The murder at-hand plays second fiddle to the unique sub-culture at play, though the ultimate hunt for the killer is riveting.
Character/Execution: LeBlanc crafts a wide cast of characters whose disguises and personas add additional cloak-and-dagger drama to the whodunnit. Ryker and Sara make for a distinctive pair.
Blue Ink Review A Fair Knight Slain makes the most of its setting, drawing readers in for an entertaining murder mystery with medieval-style mayhem.
Midwest Book Review LeBlanc’s book is a simmering murder mystery firmly embedded with Renaissance influences and history.
Kirkus Reviews The author sets this story in a memorable place, rich in Renaissance village sights. LeBlanc’s hero detective is a winner and leads a solid mystery.
A reader review LeBlanc has perfected the formula of stirring characters into her intriguing plot, so that you are doubly entertained by both the storyline and the interaction of these compelling people. When you’ve finished the last page of this exciting murder mystery, you’ll wish you could spend more time with them.
A reader review She has the wonderful ability to piece just a few words together in a sentence in order to convey such full and descriptive images, tantalizing the reader to want to know more (“…McBride’s tall, lanky body looked heavily lived in.”)
A reader review. This is a great book. I can usually figure out the who, in a who'd one bit book. I couldn't with this one. I was kept on the edge of my seat reading this book and was surprised with the final outcome. Would read it again.
A reader review The author has a real talent for describing a scene or a feeling in a creative way. The whole backdrop itself is creative and amusing murder mystery.