Rizzio by Denise Mina

A tense, atmospheric retelling of the rise and fall of an outsider who becomes both confidant and scapegoat in a royal court: an Italian musician whose intimate connection to the queen, his outsider status, and the poisonous mix of ambition, religious schism and sexual jealousy around him draw him into a web of intrigue and betrayal, culminating in a brutal, politicized murder and rippling consequences for crown, country and the people who loved and used him.

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