The first book in a highly original and delightfully clever crime series in which Queen Elizabeth II secretly solves crimes while carrying out her royal duties.
It is the early spring of 2016 and Queen Elizabeth is at Windsor Castle in advance of her 90th birthday celebrations. But the preparations are interrupted when a guest is found dead in one of the Castle bedrooms. The scene suggests the young Russian pianist strangled himself, but a badly tied knot leads MI5 to suspect foul play was involved. The Queen leaves the investigation to the professionals—until their suspicions point them in the wrong direction.
Unhappy at the mishandling of the case and concerned for her staff’s morale, the monarch decides to discreetly take matters into her own hands. With help from her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshodi, a British Nigerian and recent officer in the Royal Horse Artillery, the Queen secretly begins making inquiries. As she carries out her royal duties with her usual aplomb, no one in the Royal Household, the government, or the public knows that the resolute Elizabeth will use her keen eye, quick mind, and steady nerve to bring a murderer to justice.
SJ Bennett captures Queen Elizabeth’s voice with skill, nuance, wit, and genuine charm in this imaginative and engaging mystery that portrays Her Majesty as she’s rarely seen: kind yet worldly, decisive, shrewd, and most importantly a great judge of character.
My Review:
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
This was the first book in the Plots and Pastimes audiobook group from Tandem Collective that I was very grateful for a chance to join in. It isn't a book that I would normally pick up but having it as an audiobook helped me to keep going back to it. It is definitely a unique concept. The Queen turned detective! It is very entertaining and I was laughing out loud.
It was really interesting to be able to learn about how the author went about writing this book and some of the research techniques Bennett used. Having been so busy, it took me a long time to get through this audiobook which makes me feel like I didn't get the full benefit of the story just because of the time between each listen. The murder that takes place in Windsor was a really intense murder mystery storyline that had me hooked and I really wanted to know what happened. I loved how everything connected together at the end. Bennett captures the Queen's voice with skill, wit, and a charm that continues throughout the book.