The Queen's Poisoner by Jeff wheeler is the first book in the Kingfountain series. So confession time, I read this book after reading Jeff Wheeler's Knight's Ransom. Knight's Ransom takes place several years before the Kingfountain series and takes us through the Argentine family's reign. After reading the book I realized I am missing things and so I decided to jump into The Queen's Poisoner without any thought. I would recommend reading the series in order to get the most out of it, but it's not really necessary if you find yourself hesitating to commit to the big series.