Book Review: To Ruin a Queen

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

To Ruin a Queen     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon UK HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Fiona Buckley
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Historical
Series: Ursula Blanchard # 4
Scribner, Dec 2000, $23.00, 288 pp.

Ursula Blanchard is living at the Chateau Blanchpierre in France with her husband Matthew de la Roche. She loves her spouse, but misses England. Because he supports Mary of Scotland, Matthew cannot enter England for fear of hanging. After a miscarriage, Ursula becomes melancholy. She sends her two servants home to England to retrieve her daughter Meg. They return to inform their mistress that Meg vanished just when they were ready to depart for the continent.

A concerned Ursula travels to England seeking Meg. At her daughter's residence, Queen Elizabeth and Sir Cecil meet her. They demand she go to Vetch Castle near the Welsh border to learn what Sir Phillip Mortimer is planning since he apparently has something on Her Highness. When someone murders Phillip's ward, everyone blames Ursula. Barely escaping the castle, Ursula seeks the evidence that will stop Mortimer from blackmailing the Queen. Ursula wants nothing more than to return to France with Meg. First however, she has to make sure England’s queen is safe and the throne secure.

Fiona Buckley has written a colorful Elizabethan mystery that describes the culture, beliefs, and practices of the sixteenth century English nobility. TO RUIN A QUEEN is an excellent historical tale that contains a strong plot and powerful characters 5that keep the story line moving at a rapid pace. This novel is so complex and deep, that fans of a complex puzzle will appreciate it.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner