Anthony Blanke Mysteries

by Steven Veerapen 2 books in this series

The Anthony Blanke Mysteries follow a fictional son of the historical Black Tudor trumpeter John Blanke through Henry VIII’s court in the early 1520s. Of Blood Descended is set during Charles V’s 1522 visit and the renewal of war with France; Of Judgement Fallen moves into 1523 as Cardinal Wolsey seeks parliamentary money for the continental campaign.

Anthony is fictional, while Henry VIII, Wolsey, Thomas More, Anne Boleyn and Polydore Vergil appear under their historical identities. The series combines Tudor crime fiction with the politics of race, patronage, humanist scholarship and England’s involvement in the wider Habsburg-Valois conflict.

Reading order

Books in this series (2 books)

1. Of Blood Descended

Steven Veerapen

First published 2022

3.9(272)

Summer 1522. Henry VIII is welcoming Emperor Charles V and preparing for renewed war with France when Anthony Blanke, the fictional son of the historical trumpeter John Blanke, is summoned into Cardinal Wolsey’s orbit. The killing of a scholar connected with Wolsey’s historical interests turns Anthony…

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2. Of Judgement Fallen

Steven Veerapen

First published 2023

4.1(118)

Spring 1523. Henry VIII’s government needs money for war with France and Cardinal Wolsey is preparing to confront Parliament over taxation when Anthony Blanke becomes involved in another suspicious death. His investigation brings him into contact with the legal and political world of Thomas More as…

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