Lacking Natural Simplicity

The Poyson Garden, by Karen Harper, copyright 1999; Delacorte Press/Random House Inc., February 1999. The first in Harper's series featuring Elizabeth I.

Purity of Blood, by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, copyright 1997; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayes Peden, copyright 2006; G.P. Putnam's Sons/The Penguin Group (USA), Inc./The Penguin Group, 2006. The second in Pérez-Reverte's series featuring Captain Alariste.

Nightlife, by Rob Thurman, copyright 2006; ROC/New American Library/The Penguin Group (USA) Inc./The Penguin Group, March 2006. An interesting take on Faerie.