It’s 2016, and at Windsor Castle, preparations are underway for the Queen’s 90th birthday. After an evening soiree, a Russian pianist is discovered dead. While at first glance it appears to be accidental, it is soon clear he was murdered. While MI5 leaps to the conclusion that a sleeper agent on the Windsor staff must be responsible, the Queen enlists assistant private secretary Rozie Oshodi to help determine the real cause and killer. Oshodi is amazed to learn that the Queen has been looking into crimes since she was a teen, using her keen observational skills, acute character judgement and quick wits to ferret out clues, and discretely point official investigators in the correct direction.
Vivid character development, especially of the Queen, keeps the story lively, and Bennett cleverly interweaves her mystery into the actual events of April 2016. Cozy mystery lovers and royal followers will be delighted with this first book of the Her Majesty the Queen Investigates series.
Contributed by Kay Drache, librarian Maple Grove Library.
