Upcoming Release: Queen without a Country by Fiona Buckley

Sarah from Reading the Past posted a preview of the upcoming UK releases a couple of days ago! I love it when these posts go up as there are always books that I hadn't previously heard of. Amongst the list this time were new Christie Dickason, Conn Iggulden, Colin Falconer and more, but if there was one book that really caught my eye it is a new release in the Ursula Blanchard historical mystery series by Fiona Buckley (a psuedonym of Valerie Anand).

I read the last book in the Ursula Blanchard series, which is set in the Court of Queen Elizabeth, more than five years ago. I hadn't heard anything about a new book and so was thinking that Buckley had given up on the series, but apparently not!

Here's the blurb (note that there is a spoiler of sorts in the description)

The ninth gripping murder mystery to feature Ursula Blanchard, special aide to Elizabeth I

November, 1569. Happily married to her third husband, Hugh Stannard, lady-in-waiting Ursula Blanchard is hoping to give up her undercover work for Queen Elizabeth l in order to enjoy domestic bliss. But when Hugh unwittingly endangers possession of his ancestral home, Ursula is forced to take on a seemingly hopeless (but handsomely paid) private assignment, which the Queen spots is the perfect cover for a covert investigation into a group of rebel barons plotting to put Mary, Queen of Scots on the English throne . . .

Haven't heard of this series? Check out the spotlight post that we did about a couple of years ago.

To Shield The Queen by Fiona Buckley

Rumor has linked Queen Elizabeth I to her master of horse, Robin Dudley. As gossip would have it, only his ailing wife, Amy, prevents marriage between Dudley and the Queen. To quell the idle tongues at court, the Queen dispatches Ursula Blanchard to tend to the sick woman's needs. But not even Ursula can prevent the "accident" that takes Amy's life. Did she fall or was she pushed? Was Ursula a pawn of Dudley and the Queen?

Suddenly Ursula finds herself at the center of the scandal, trying to protect Elizabeth as she loses her heart to a Frenchman who may be flirting with sedition against her Queen. She can trust no one, neither her lover nor her monarch, as she sets out to find the truth in a glittering court that conceals a wellspring of blood and lies.

To Shield The Queen is an Elizabethan mystery but unlike my previous read (The Poyson Garden) the detective here is one of the queen's lady's in waiting. Ursula Blanchard is a young widow, when she finds herself almost destitute after the death of her husband a post is found for her as lady in waiting to the queen thanks to the fact that her own mother was fulfilled that same role for queen Anne Boleyn.

When Ursula arrives in court it is common knowledge that the Queen and Robert Dudley, her Master of the Horse are romantically linked. Nothing inappropriate has happened but they do spend a lot of time together and since Dudley is married there is a lot of gossiping going round. Ursula is adjusting to her new duties and its obligations when Dudley, with the Queen's accent, asks her to go to his wife, Amy Robsart, and assure her that he is not trying to harm her as she, and half the court believes.

Ursula manages to gain Amy's trust and tries to convince her but the truth is that a few weeks later Amy Robsart is found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Ursula suspects murder but unable to prove it she directs her efforts to find the killers of her trusted servant John instead. While she follows the killer's trail and uncovers a plot against the queen she ends up finding out exactly what happened to Amy.

I really enjoyed reading about Ursula, she was an intelligent and strong willed woman, forced to make her own way in the world to support herself and her young daughter, but still a woman of her time with the restrictions and limitations of the period. Then I really liked that there's a true sense of history. In fact it almost feels like Buckley used the historical facts we know and believably connected all the dots, explaining what we do not know, it's always nice to have an author filling the "holes” of history so well. And then I really enjoyed the subplot and how the political and religious unrest also played a huge part in this story.

I can't wait to find out what happens next both to Ursula Blanchard!

Grade: 4.5/5

Spotlight on Fiona Buckley's Ursula Blanchard series

For a long time now, a look at the historical fiction shelves will reveal that one of the most popular eras in historical fiction is the Tudor period, particularly the life and times of Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth I. This fascination is understandable - scandalous love lives, religious upheaval and dramatic events in world history all are factors in the fascination that readers have with these times.

Those factors are part of what makes the Ursula Blanchard series of novels by Fiona Buckley an entertaining read.

Full name Ursula Faldene Blanchard de la Roche Stannard, our introduction to Ursula is when she is a young widow who has recently arrived in the court of Elizabeth I. She needs to provide for her young daughter, Meg, as well as her servants. It isn't long before William Cecil has Ursula working for him in a variety of roles, placing her both in danger, but also in situations where she can show her resourcefulness and resolve.

There is definitely some similarity in tone and broad themes to Karen Harper's Elizabeth I mysteries series, but one of the key differences is that Ursula is not restricted to the court as Elizabeth I, as sleuth, needs to be for the most part. Being able to travel around means that Ursula is able to investigate events such as the death of Robert Dudley's wife (The Robsart Mystery) and various Catholic (The Doublet Affair) and aristocratic plots (To Ruin a Queen). Along the way, Ursula interacts with Catherine, Queen of France (The Queen's Ransom), Mary, Queen of Scots (A Pawn for a Queen and The Fugitive Queen) and also finds time to live her own life as well including dealing with deaths, marriages and raising a young girl to womanhood.

Like many other historical mysteries series, there are times when Ursula is too modern, and there are some things that happen that I didn't really like, but the positives outweigh those criticisms.

At this point in time, there doesn't appear to be any new Ursula Blanchard books due to be published, which is disappointing. Fiona Buckley is however the pen name for Valerie Anand who writes historical fiction/fantasy, and she has at least one long running series that I will try at some point.

I did find that this series started slowly, but the books did improve and the last few were very entertaining. I started reading this series before I started blogging so I don't have reviews for all of them, but I have provided the links where possible. The series in order is:

1. The Robsart Mystery (also published as To Shield the Queen)
2. The Doublet Affair
3. Queen's Ransom
4. To Ruin A Queen
5. Queen of Ambition
6. A Pawn for a Queen
7. The Fugitive Queen
8. The Siren Queen