This is the story of....a meanie. The only time she shed a tear was when her (married) son kicked the bucket because of his bad heart while in the sack with another lady. After he croaked she then basically ex-communicated her daughter-in-law, and her grandchildren.

Also according to the story, her personal assistant who was often at her side, was asked to wipe her shoes clean with a rag like a shoe-shine boy, in front of people. She also liked to snap her fingers at people when she wanted things brought to her, or wanted someone to do something for her.

Then there's Mr. Helmsley. Another multi-millionaire with ample business acumen who lacked street smarts and contemporary social skills. (Doh! Where ya been Harry?) Leona set the trap: after their affair had schemingly precipitated to deeper emotional depths over time, the queen told Mr. H that another man had offered to marry her, and she showed him a fake diamond engagement ring he allegedly bought for her. None of this was true. But Harry fell for it. Leona made an ultimatum that it was now or never. All or nothing. She was not going to be the second banana in his life. The queen persuaded Harry to leave his wife of 33 years for her. He soon discovered what he was in for: a clingy nagger.

This is New York. He was a very wealthy man. He could have simply called a guy in Queens or Brooklyn named "Vito," and for about $50,000 her could have had her....but no. He put up with her because he was P-whipped.

Leona is gutsy and to the bone, and nothing ventured means nothing gained in life. But, the queen turned ambition into a sadistic perversion of making people miserable to inflate her ego. There are assertions that this was out of emotional neglect, or lack of emotional support from her mother when she was a child. Leona's mother, it seems favored Leona's older sister. Let's call out Dr. Freud, May, Rogers, Adler, or Phil McGraw.

After she schemed to marry and control Mr. Helmsley, she made all clear that she had the power to hire, buy, intimidate, and fire anyone at will. Before she nabbed Harry, her first major promotion in real-estate sales was a result of a performance on the casting couch with her boss who had the power and ability to promote her within Mr. H's company.

One tid-bit the author noted, was that part of her advertising promotion for one of her major hotels was to have a full deck of cards with 52 different pictures of her on each of them them. When the advertising company returned with the finished sample, previously approved by Leona, she snapped. She wanted the cards bigger, (bigger than regulation cards), and with gold edging. One by one she threw each one on the floor, and then told the advertising representatives, "have you ever played 52-pick-up. Now pick them up."

The heartbreakingly beautiful and sensual Isabella, a woman with little motherly instincts, had been married to King John of England, the most depraved, dissolute, and evil tyrant ever to rule over England, when she was just a child of twelve. John had been the youngest son of Eleanor of Aquitaine and King Henry II of England. Unfortunately, he did not follow in the footsteps of his father in terms of his ability to govern his widespread kingdom. When John died a mysterious death, both Isabella and England were freed from his tyranny, and his and Isabella's eldest son, though a mere boy of nine at the time, became King Henry III of England. Isabella was now the Dowager Queen of England.

Meanwhile, across the English Channel in France, Blanche, the granddaughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and King Henry II of England, had married Louis VIII of France. Her grandmother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, had handpicked her for that explicit purpose, as Eleanor had sensed in Blanche one such as she, a person with the wit and drive to be a strong queen. The marriage of Blanche and Louis had been a happy one, until an untimely death took Louis, who had been a well-meaning, though weak, king. Their handsome son, Louis, would become King Louis IX of France at the age of twelve. The beautiful Blanche, a virtuous and regal woman, was now the Dowager Queen of France.

When Isabella and Blanche would meet, it was clear that neither woman had much love for the other. When King John of England died, Isabella remarried Count Hugh of Lusignan, the man to whom she had originally been betrothed a lifetime ago, before King John had abducted her and made her his child bride. The fact that Joanna, her daughter with John, was now betrothed to Hugh did not deter Isabella from her determination to marry her first love. So, in addition to being the Dowager Queen of England, Isabella became a Countess through her marriage to Hugh, who was a vassal of France.

This was an untenable situation for Isabella, who despised Blanche and refused to give her and her son the homage that they were due. Isabella ruled her husband Hugh through her ability to provide many amorous and sensuous delights, causing him to commit many grave errors in judgment that were to cause much disharmony in his life. Isabella was single-minded in her determination to cause Blanche as much trouble as possible. She plotted and intrigued against the French crown and no perfidy was too great, encouraging her son, Henry, to try to regain the lands that his father, King John, had recklessly lost to the French. Blanche, however, was not oblivious to Isabella's hatred of her and, being a clever woman, made the necessary moves to keep her in check. One day, however, Isabella went too far and attempted the ultimate act of treason. It was an act that was to cause the tempestuous Isabella of Angouleme to come to an ignominious end.

All I can say is "wow." What a great book! There are so many suspects in this book that it's almost impossible to guess who it is. I could've sworn it was that guy but it was actually someone else. Trust me, you'll never be able to guess the murderer.