Loyal Servant. Devoted Friend. Perfect target. Rumor has linked Queen Elizabeth I to her Master of Horse, Robin Dudley. And what rumors, at that: but for his ailing wife, Amy, Dudley would wed her majesty, the gossipmongers are whispering. To quell idle tongues, Elizabeth 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 conceasls a wellspring of blood and lies.
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About the Author
Fiona Buckley is the author of eight historical mystery novels featuring Ursula Blanchard: To Shield the Queen, The Doublet Affair, Queen's Ransom, To Ruin a Queen, Queen of Ambition, A Pawn for a Queen, The Fugitive Queen, and The Siren Queen. She lives in North Surrey, England.
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John Wilton was a small man, knotted and wiry, with short, dusty brown hair which stuck up in spikes. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By C. Hackett
Format:Paperback
Although The Robsart Mystery does not focus solely on the story of Amy Robsart, it does offer reasonable explanations of unresolved situations and relationships within the court of Elizabeth I. The main thread through the book is the story of Ursula Blanchard - lady of the Queen's presence chamber - who embarks on a journey that will change her life. The journey begins with her request, by Elizabeth, to protect the life of Amy Robsart. Rumours of a love affair between Elizebeth and Robert Dudley are rife in court. Mixed with accusations of Dudley trying to poison Amy so he can marry the queen, tantamount to a rather worried Elizaebth who must ensure her crown and reputation is protected. Ursula becomes the faithful friend to Amy and when she inevitably dies, Ursula is determined to find out the truth. However, this determination is pushed even further by the sudden death of someone else close to Ursula. This unprecedented attack spurs Ursula on a trail of love, hate and determination to find the killers. Her journey leads to some shocking discoveries about the people she thought she knew and her faith and loyalty are put into doubt. I found The Robsart Mystery story intriguing and full of suspense. Above all, it was great to see such a strong lead female character who almost overshadowed the queen herself!
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
A compelling mystery, made all the more believeable by a credible and well-characterized first-person narrator, this book had me hooked almost from the first page. The only thing that bothered me somewhat was the choice of title, since Queen Elizabeth herself appears only briefly towards the beginning and the end of the story. I will definately be following this series in the future.
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
By 1650, the court is whispering about the relationship between
the young Queen Elizabeth and her chaperon, Sir Robert Dudley. To
strengthen her tentative hold on the crown while dispelling rumors that
she plans to rid Robert of his ailing spouse, Amy, the Queen employs
Ursula Blanchard to tend to the woman's needs.
the young Queen Elizabeth and her chaperon, Sir Robert Dudley. To
strengthen her tentative hold on the crown while dispelling rumors that
she plans to rid Robert of his ailing spouse, Amy, the Queen employs
Ursula Blanchard to tend to the woman's needs.
However, Ursula fails at her task when Amy is found dead from a
broken neck. Did the woman fall down the stairs or was foul play
(perhaps of a royal variety) the cause of her death? To clear her own
reputation with her highness, Ursula begins to investigate Amy's death.
As she gets closer to the truth, threats to herself and her daughter
suddenly appear. It seems that someone close to the Queen does not
want the truth to be revealed.
TO SHIELD THE QUEEN is an exciting historical mystery that brings
alive the early reign (second year on the throne) of Queen Elizabeth I.
Ursula is a wonderful amateur sleuth while the rest of the cast bring
color and pageantry to the excing storyline. The treacherous behavior
of the characters and thenumerous conspiracies swirling around the
Queen abound to the point that Mulder would be proud to investigate.
With the first Blanchard novel, Fiona Buckley has opened up an
auspicious new series.
Harriet Klausner
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
I picked up this book as a quick read over a holiday and was happily surprised to find the author an accomplished novelist. Her simple explanations of the intriquisies of the Elizabethian court were purely amazing, bring the court life to life in a vivid and fun fashion. And the author is to be commended on her use of 'devices'. It is easy to write a modern mystery, complete with wire taps, phone scanners,and high speed chases in fancy cars. Fiona Buckly showcases her brilliant mind as she keeps the heroine firmly in the character of an Elizabethian lady who uses her powers of reason and the drama of stealth to overhear conversations.Instead of a fancy car the heroine has a flashy bay horse, and the slow speed chase on horseback lurking over hill and dale in the English countryside following a notable horse was absolutly facinating. I compleatly enjoyed TO SHIELD THE QUEEN, and will begin searching for other books by Fiona Buckly,hoping that she has continued the adventures of Ursula and her crew.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
The language patterns aren't terribly Elizabethan, and the history not terribly atmospheric, and I'm not quite sure it's more a romance than mystery, but the plot kept me plodding through
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
TO SHIELD THE QUEEN is a delightful experience! It's full of interesting, accurate period detail which adds interest and color, but doesn't get in the way of the mystery. Plucky Ursula Blanchard is perhaps more pro-active than the typical Elizabethan woman, but she is engaging and worth spending your time with! I recommend it for fans of mystery and historical fiction alike.
8 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
(Sigh) Yet another entry in the now-burgeoning field of historical detective stories this effort exhibits some of the more tiresome deffects of this genre; it is more costume drama than a work of historical fiction. The characters are twentieth-century people in fancy-dress. Blanchard simply lacks a sure feel for the period; characters dart in and out of each others' houses as if they were characters in a village whodunnit. Two characters marry in a ceremony only a few days after they have agreed to marry -- an illicit marriage both in civil and canon law. Oddly enough for an English author, the class distinctions are oddly blurred : a member of the gentry addresses her grooms sister as "Mistress". The book suffers from being written in the first person and the reader must put up with the plodding thought patterns of the "heroine". An author of fiction who must justify her historical plot by appending a bibiliography is confessing the weakness of her own plotting. Lastly, using fictional charaters to solve an historical conundrum is dirty pool.
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