I love this series and I took a while to read this because I needed to save it for 'best.' In between starting A Surfeit and finishing, I read another ten books that I wouldn't review because they're in the category I write. My rating can't be fair if I don't love them.Sir Robert Carey is called the Courtier by his men who help him keep order on the border between England and Scotland in Elizabethan times. Sir Robert is in love with Elizabeth Widdrington and I fear he will never have her. She is married to a gouty old man who beats her but she is the love of Robert's life, being a clever and competent woman.In this story he outwits various warring Scottish clans and the canny Scots King James. Delicious.I'm about to buy the next in the series.