When the spooks have a midnight Jamboree
They break it up with fiendish glee
Ghosts are bad, but the one that's cursed
It's the Headless Horseman, he's the worst.
The most remarkable element of The Cup of Ghosts is how carefully researched it is. Paul Doherty constructs a fine narrative around true historical events (as he explains in his author’s note at the book’s conclusion). Someone really did die during the coronation ceremony of Edward II— Doherty tweaks it ever so slightly and turns it into a fine murder. Other people who really existed died within a short span of time, and Doherty plays the role of the Grim Reaper again by despatching them with murders, including one locked-room mystery. And Doherty paints a remarkable political picture of the times, as a subtle chess match is being played out between Philip of France and Edward of England.
They break it up with fiendish glee
Ghosts are bad, but the one that's cursed
It's the Headless Horseman, he's the worst.
—Brom Bones, Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Into it all Doherty casts Mathilde of Westminster, based on a real historical figure. She was living with her uncle, an influential Templar knight, when Philip of France moved to crush the order and seize its treasures. Mathilde’s escape was arranged— her uncle wasn’t so lucky. Mathilde is hidden in the best possible hiding spot—smack in the middle of the lions’ den, as Princess Isabella’s dame de chambre. Well, the two quickly forge a friendship, but it’s immediately tested severely. A string of brutal murders take place, and there are whispers that Edward of England might very well refuse to marry Isabella despite a French-English treaty. There’s discontent among the English Lords at the favour Edward shows to Lord Gaveston, and trouble in general is brewing.
