TO SHIELD THE QUEEN

Rating:
Summary: Solid Historical Mystery Set in Elizabeth England
Review: To Shield the Queen is the first book in the Ursula Blanchard mystery series by Fiona Buckley. Ursula Blanchard had a difficult childhood. She was born out of wedlock and forced into virtual servitude, along with her mother, in her aunt's and uncle's home. Ursula cannot believe her good fortune when her cousin's handsome, wealthy suitor falls in love with her and elopes with her. Unfortunately, Ursula's happiness is all too short lived as her husband dies from illness soon after the birth of their daughter. Ursula cannot bear the thought of returning to her aunt & uncle's house, so she jumps at the chance to serve in court under Queen Elizabeth. However, she soon finds that all of the court gilt and glitter is merely a thin veneer covering the deadly secrets and scandals underneath. All of the court is atwitter over the attraction between the young, unmarried Queen Elizabeth and her master of the horse, Sir Robin Dudley, who is married. Sir Dudley's wife, Amy, is gravely ill and rumors circulate that Sir Dudley and perhaps the Queen herself are trying to kill her. The Queen is aware of the rumors, of course, and sends Ursula to Amy's country residence to watch over her and ensure that she lives as long as her breast cancer will allow.

Amy's is a strange household and Ursula suspects that there is some mischief afoot there. Thus, it is no great to surprise to Ursula to return from the county fair to find Amy dead at the foot of the stairs. Ursula dispatches her man, John Ward, to carry an urgent message to the Queen, but he is murdered on the road. Ursula believes that these seemingly unrelated acts are somehow tied together and courageously sets off to track the owner of a piebald horse throughout the English countryside. There, she uncovers another plot to overthrow the Queen, and the man she loves, Matthew de la Roche, is somehow involved...

I enjoyed the book for the most part, but found that it was a little slow at times. I actually picked the book up and put it down several times so it took me a couple of months to read it instead of the usual couple of days. I found Ursula to be a strong, yet feminine heroine who was faced with terrible decisions in the book, but made her decisions in a logical way. I especially enjoyed seeing Ursula's thought processes as she linked information together and came to conclusions. Quite fascinating era in history, also so there was plenty of action going on and mysteries such as this one may have actually occurred, who knows? Anyway, if you enjoy historical mysteries or are looking for something a bit different to read in between modern mysteries, pick this one up, I think you will enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Solid Historical Mystery Set in Elizabeth England
Review: To Shield the Queen is the first book in the Ursula Blanchard mystery series by Fiona Buckley. Ursula Blanchard had a difficult childhood. She was born out of wedlock and forced into virtual servitude, along with her mother, in her aunt's and uncle's home. Ursula cannot believe her good fortune when her cousin's handsome, wealthy suitor falls in love with her and elopes with her. Unfortunately, Ursula's happiness is all too short lived as her husband dies from illness soon after the birth of their daughter. Ursula cannot bear the thought of returning to her aunt & uncle's house, so she jumps at the chance to serve in court under Queen Elizabeth. However, she soon finds that all of the court gilt and glitter is merely a thin veneer covering the deadly secrets and scandals underneath. All of the court is atwitter over the attraction between the young, unmarried Queen Elizabeth and her master of the horse, Sir Robin Dudley, who is married. Sir Dudley's wife, Amy, is gravely ill and rumors circulate that Sir Dudley and perhaps the Queen herself are trying to kill her. The Queen is aware of the rumors, of course, and sends Ursula to Amy's country residence to watch over her and ensure that she lives as long as her breast cancer will allow.

Amy's is a strange household and Ursula suspects that there is some mischief afoot there. Thus, it is no great to surprise to Ursula to return from the county fair to find Amy dead at the foot of the stairs. Ursula dispatches her man, John Ward, to carry an urgent message to the Queen, but he is murdered on the road. Ursula believes that these seemingly unrelated acts are somehow tied together and courageously sets off to track the owner of a piebald horse throughout the English countryside. There, she uncovers another plot to overthrow the Queen, and the man she loves, Matthew de la Roche, is somehow involved...

I enjoyed the book for the most part, but found that it was a little slow at times. I actually picked the book up and put it down several times so it took me a couple of months to read it instead of the usual couple of days. I found Ursula to be a strong, yet feminine heroine who was faced with terrible decisions in the book, but made her decisions in a logical way. I especially enjoyed seeing Ursula's thought processes as she linked information together and came to conclusions. Quite fascinating era in history, also so there was plenty of action going on and mysteries such as this one may have actually occurred, who knows? Anyway, if you enjoy historical mysteries or are looking for something a bit different to read in between modern mysteries, pick this one up, I think you will enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Hurrah, Ursula!
Review: When Queen Elizabeth I ruled, she dealt with her share of nasty rumors; not the least of which was her "friendship" with her Master of Horse Sir Robert (Robin) Dudley. The fact that Dudley had an ailing wife named Amy (who, unbeknowst to them in that day was suffering from breast cancer)added to the gossip. Fiona Buckley has taken this real-life scenario and turned it into a historical mystery work of fiction. It's brilliant!

Our fictional narrator, Ursula Blanchard, is recently widowed and raising her young daughter Meg. She refuses to lean on her fanatical relations and instead finds herself a job as lady-in-waiting to the Queen. Her first big assignment by the Queen is to travel to Cumnor Place (the Dudley estate) and care for Dudley's sickly wife Amy. She is also going there to serve as a pawn to quell rumors that Dudley has no murderous designs on Amy, thereby ridding himself of her and leaving an opening to marry Elizabeth and gain the throne. But as Ursula cares for Amy and gains her trust, she learns that Amy indeed has valid reason to fear for her safety. Strange things are afoot at Cumnor Place, and supicious behavior by Dudley's associates give Ursula cause to spy and dig up information. When Amy sends all the servants to Abbingdon Fair, they return to find her dead in a heap at the bottom of the stairs (again, this part of history is absolutley true). The mystery thickens: was she pushed? Was she delirious from her disease and misjudged the stairs? Was she so depressed about the adulterous rumors regarding Dudley and the Queen that she sent the servants out so she could commit suicide? Or did she send the servants away to give her murderers a chance to follow through on their intents? Historically, the case was never resolved, ruled out as a horrible accident. But Ursula is not satisfied with this answer, and takes it upon herself to find out the truth.

Fiona Buckley has cleverly woven the fact with well-written fiction, giving us a new heroine we love. In a time when not much value was put on women (other than serving the Queen or bearing children), Ursula is a strong-willed warrior of truth and justice. I couldn't put this book down! Each chapter ended with mysterious questions or thoughts that just begged to be learned in the following chapters. Much of my housework went to seed when I picked up this book! There are 4 more books in the Ursula series, all of which involve other real-life Queen Elizabeth experiences (i.e. the plot to remove Elizabeth and install her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, to the English throne, etc.). The series is in the order as follows: 1.) "To Shield the Queen", 2.) The Doublet Affair", 3.) "Queen's Ransom", 4.) "To Ruin a Queen", and the newest (available 12/04)5.) "Queen's Ambition".

Rating:
Summary: Hurrah, Ursula!
Review: When Queen Elizabeth I ruled, she dealt with her share of nasty rumors; not the least of which was her "friendship" with her Master of Horse Sir Robert (Robin) Dudley. The fact that Dudley had an ailing wife named Amy (who, unbeknowst to them in that day was suffering from breast cancer)added to the gossip. Fiona Buckley has taken this real-life scenario and turned it into a historical mystery work of fiction. It's brilliant!

Our fictional narrator, Ursula Blanchard, is recently widowed and raising her young daughter Meg. She refuses to lean on her fanatical relations and instead finds herself a job as lady-in-waiting to the Queen. Her first big assignment by the Queen is to travel to Cumnor Place (the Dudley estate) and care for Dudley's sickly wife Amy. She is also going there to serve as a pawn to quell rumors that Dudley has no murderous designs on Amy, thereby ridding himself of her and leaving an opening to marry Elizabeth and gain the throne. But as Ursula cares for Amy and gains her trust, she learns that Amy indeed has valid reason to fear for her safety. Strange things are afoot at Cumnor Place, and supicious behavior by Dudley's associates give Ursula cause to spy and dig up information. When Amy sends all the servants to Abbingdon Fair, they return to find her dead in a heap at the bottom of the stairs (again, this part of history is absolutley true). The mystery thickens: was she pushed? Was she delirious from her disease and misjudged the stairs? Was she so depressed about the adulterous rumors regarding Dudley and the Queen that she sent the servants out so she could commit suicide? Or did she send the servants away to give her murderers a chance to follow through on their intents? Historically, the case was never resolved, ruled out as a horrible accident. But Ursula is not satisfied with this answer, and takes it upon herself to find out the truth.

Fiona Buckley has cleverly woven the fact with well-written fiction, giving us a new heroine we love. In a time when not much value was put on women (other than serving the Queen or bearing children), Ursula is a strong-willed warrior of truth and justice. I couldn't put this book down! Each chapter ended with mysterious questions or thoughts that just begged to be learned in the following chapters. Much of my housework went to seed when I picked up this book! There are 4 more books in the Ursula series, all of which involve other real-life Queen Elizabeth experiences (i.e. the plot to remove Elizabeth and install her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, to the English throne, etc.). The series is in the order as follows: 1.) "To Shield the Queen", 2.) The Doublet Affair", 3.) "Queen's Ransom", 4.) "To Ruin a Queen", and the newest (available 12/04)5.) "Queen's Ambition".

Rating:
Summary: HISTORICALLY THOUGHTFULL MYSTERY
Review: With so much historical literary strip mining going on it's hard to find a worthy and faithful narrative. Mystery writers and otherwise love the flavor of the past but too often use it only as a back drop to their otherwise "modern" tale. There are exceptions (K.Follet's Pillers of the Earth - my fav) and Ms. Buckley is one of them. For starters, she doesn't bite off more than she can chew by trying to fit in pounds of historical facts designed to let the reader know that she did her research. The premise is simple and perfect: Who Killed Robert Dudley's wife? It's been a great unsolved mystery since it happened and speculations have abounded. So, kudos' for the choice of plot.
The reason I gave 4 stars and not 5 was simply my personal feeling that the story stalled here and there, but allowances have to be made for character development. I enjoyed the unlikely heroine and her entourage.
Bottom Line: I recommend this mystery to anyone interested in the period, but not to anyone who likes to gather clues and bust the culprit before the end. It's not that kind of mystery.