Anne had been the King’s mistress, sheltered and naïve, until he tired of her and married her off to a foppish Baron in the hinterlands.  On her journey to her new home, she makes the shocking discovery that the Knights of Virtue, pledged to deliver justice to the land and its people, are nothing like what she thought they were. 

Only the intervention of the outlaw Nocturne prevented some very bad things from happening to her and a young girl she tried to rescue from the dastardly Knights.  Masked and mysterious, the legendary outlaw is not only a dashing swordsman, but a mystical chymist as well, a practitioner of the banned arts. 

As she settles in to her new life, she grows to respect her new husband, but it is to Nocturne her desires turn, especially after she makes a deal with him to teach her the art of sword-fighting. .  It is his brother, the physician, who takes her around and introduces her to the locals and gives her the opportunity to see the truth of Nocturne’s words about the nature of the nobility and the Knights of Virtue. 

Nocturne is a fast and fun read, and a prize for anyone who has a fondness for the old Robin Hood or Zorro tales.  It’s a new slant on an old theme, and carried off with aplomb and grace.  Lady Anne is a feisty young woman and her husband the baron a decent, but seemingly disinterested, landlord.   

There are few surprises, but the whole thing is so cleverly done that this reviewer, for one, didn’t mind that at all.  One’s only complaint might be that it’s a short novella rather than a full-length novel. 

Reading NOCTURNE is a good way to pass a couple of hours and invoke those feelings of nostalgia for the old tales of the dashing outlaw defying the soldiers of a tyrant. 

Certainly worth reading.

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