The Midnight Queen

One of Fleming's more lurid novels, which is saying a lot. Recounted in the airiest possible tone, this historical romance featuring a mysterious, masked fortuneteller; a beautiful, tragic bride; a brave if foolhardy young knight; three unlikely doppelgangers; deadly secret midnight revels; strange noblemen; a fearsome dwarf; grisly beheadings; and a peculiar king, all set amid the grim horrors of the Great Plague of London in 1665.