The Siren Queen

Finding Fiona Buckley's The Siren Queen (#176) in the stacks at my local library was like meeting up with an old friend unexpectedly.  (And as I've said before, never underestimate the power of the cover art!)  This mystery series is set in the turbulent court of Elizabeth I.  Ursula Blanchard has a very close connection to the Queen and has worked with her Secretary of State and spy master, William Cecil, to protect the Queen's interests in earlier books.  She's also had a roller coaster of an emotional life and is now married to her third husband.

In The Siren Queen, Ursula and her older husband Hugh Stannard are happily settled into a quiet life at home.  But her elderly Welsh servant Gladys Morgan has stirred things up at home and even cursed the local clergyman.  When an invitation arrives from the Duke of Norfolk to visit him in London and meet his protege as a prospective suitor for Ursula's daughter Meg, the timing seems a perfect way to remove Gladys from the neighborhood.  It's also time to start considering Meg's future, although marriage will still be a few years away, after she's finished her education and been to court.  Still, it doesn't hurt to start looking...

What Ursula doesn't count on in is staying in a household where there's just a little too much interest in Mary Stuart and the old religion.  A pair of murders in the household point to just how sinister that Stuart connection is.  Meanwhile, Meg is bowled over by the attentions of Norfolk's secretary, much to Ursula and Hugh's dismay.  And Gladys, despite all the warnings and threats to behave, puts them all at risk.    Ursula must once again employ her espionage skills in the service of the realm.

Fiona Buckley has loosely based the plot of The Siren Queen on the Ridolfi Plot against Elizabeth I.  Inserting Ursula Blanchard and her household into this complicated plot serves as a good way to illuminate one of the many attempts to replace Protestant Elizabeth with Catholic Mary Stuart.  An interesting historical mystery, worth reading.