Dorothy Dunnett - why has it taken me so long?

Treaclemine, I can PM you with who owns the house but it's a fairly major bit of plot so a bit of a spoiler for a 6 book series if put out in the open.

The house is very significant but that's all I am going to say.

I was reminded by this thread of the books, and I've just reread Checkmate. There was something I wanted to check against memory, and I spent most of several days doing so. Oh my goodness! What a delight.
But I was struck by the fighting landscape - the names of the places, older and much more recent, Agincourt, the Somme, that poor area. (And I wondered if DD had drawn upon WWI records or memories.) I didn't notice first time round.
And I'm left with a puzzle, a loose end, perhaps I've missed it. Who owned the house in the Rue de cherries, for whom the agent was keeping Philippa's gold? I think there was reference way back.
And first time round I didn't appreciate how good Francis was in that house with Philippa. (I wonder if Lindsey Davies has read it - there's an episode in the first Flavia Alba book rather like it.)
I read and enjoyed King Hereafter, but I never got into Niccolo, don't know why. Like driving into a snowdrift.

Thank you @mimbleandlittlemy and @ChinHairDontCare and OP, of course, for the thread.
I bought Lymond ( Game of Kings) yesterday, so will start reading that later.

I'm struggling a bit with the Irish characters in the second Lymond book. I'm Irish and it just reads so Darby O'Gill and the Little People in my head. Is it like this throughout the whole book?

Yes Margaret is Jenny Fleming's daughter. Not Janet who is married to the still alive Buccleugh.

Am sure it will! It's a while since I read the series bit I remember the complete bafflement in the first few chapters of GoK but being completely captivated by the writing and then again at the start of Queen's Play when they were on the ship - kept thinking where the heck has Lymond gone! But I kept going because I was continually surprised by the plot which was marvelous.

'I'm getting used to the arc of total incomprehension followed by unputdownable excitement'

This is a wonderful description of the book's arc@Sausagenbacon

Whatapity - technically you should start with Niccolo, then read Lymond but there are 'resonances' in the Niccolo series that you will only recognise as such if you've read Lymond, and the two series interconnect. So I'd do Lymond, Niccolo, Lymond and that'll keep you going for a week or two at least!

I'm not a huge fan of King Hereafter, partly because (sort of Spoiler but the Spoiler is also in the title tbh), if you know Macbeth, you know it's not going to End Well and also I couldn't love the characters in the same way I do through the other books. It is completely and totally stand alone though, so you can read that any time you fancy.

I've King Hereafter on my shelf. It's been there for years and years. I haven't read partly because when I do it will be the last DD I ever read.

Thank you @mimbleandlittlemy . I read on my kindle in bed at night before sleep so don't think I'd make a companion book work. @whatapity I have just started with the Lymond series and just finished the first book Game of Kings. It's hard at the start, I was flicking back to the character list a lot, but then the story gets exciting and you're off!

I’ve read the Macbeth book (King Hereafter). Again it’s incredibly complex with a vast range of characters. My copy has a handy family tree at the end. It requires persistence, but I think it’s an extraordinary portrayal of early medieval Europe.

Which would you recommend to start with, please @Sausagenbacon as I like the sound of these.

Yes, I think that’s right. There are a lot of margarets, Marys, Jennys and Janets around!

Here’s a character list, I don’t think there are any spoilers: https://dunnett.fandom.com/wiki/QP:Characters

I've read both series - preferred Niccolo. Lymond came across as more historical romance targetted at female readership.

Enjoyed both though

Lymond, naturally, speaks many languages perfectly ( he shares this with Lord Peter Wimsey) but fortunately he doesn’t expect the reader to keep up!

True. While Dorothy L Sayers most definitely does - I can think of at least 2 of her stories where you miss huge bits if you don't know French or Latin!

ChinHairDontCare - don't worry about translating at all. You can either let it go, or if you really want to know get a copy of the DD Companions which translate most stuff for you. And some of the stuff Lymond quotes hadn't even been written at that point in the 1500s, so you can add extraordinary literary prescience to his talents 😁.

Dunnett made no secret of her debt to Lord Peter Whimsey and his polyglot ways!!

Thanks @pollyhemlock, good to know.

It really doesn’t matter if you don’t translate everything as DD doesn’t ( as far as I recall) put any major plot points In another language. Lymond, naturally, speaks many languages perfectly ( he shares this with Lord Peter Wimsey) but fortunately he doesn’t expect the reader to keep up!