The Her Majesty the Queen Investigates Series! Right Royal Entertainment!
I read quite a lot of mystery novels. I especially love historical mysteries and I love the masterpieces of the Golden Age by writers like Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. And I’m also a huge fan of Ellie Griffiths’ wonderful stories.
Recently I’ve been devouring a new series by S.J. Bennett called Her Majesty the Queen Investigates, featuring, would you believe, the late and very much admired Queen Elizabeth II. So far, there are three books in the series.
It would have been so easy for these to be twee and unconvincing and altogether a bit naff, but they’re not. They’re charming and rather touching and immaculately researched, and they feature intriguing plots and really interesting, appealing characters. And most appealing of all is Her Majesty, who is smart and perceptive and empathetic and intuitive and altogether a good egg.
Members of her household play recurring parts in the stories too, most significantly of all, Rozie Oshidi, her Assistant Private Secretary, who is new to royal service after a brilliant career in the army. There’s a touch of the Miss Marples about this. If you’ve read those classic Agatha Christie stories, Miss Marple usually ropes in an intrepid younger woman to do the running around. Age and protocal mean that the Queen needs someone to do the legwork.
I have no idea if these books are an accurate depiction of what it’s like to be in the Royal Family or part of the Royal Household, but that hardly matters. What does matter is that it all seems authentic. The tone is just right!
The first book in the series is The Windsor Knot, which is set in 2016 in the weeks leading up to the celebration of the Queen’s 90th birthday. After a dinner party at Windsor Castle, one of the guests is discovered hanged in his room. The police are determined to pin the crime on a member of the staff, but the Queen is convinced that they’re looking in the wrong direction.
With the help of her decades of experience in ruling the country, her well-honed investigative skills, not to mention Rozie to roam around investigating on the ground, she sets out to prove the police wrong. She achieves this with tact and cleverness and in spite of the often-patronizing attitude of the males who surround her (there are some wonderful humorous scenes on this note, which I actually do believe might happen!).
The second book has a lovely title, A Three Dog Problem, a reference to Sherlock Holmes’s three pipe problems and to the famous corgis and dorgis who were such a large part of the late Queen’s life.
This one is also set in 2016 in the midst of the Brexit campaign. A member of staff is found dead beside the pool at Buckingham Palace. Was it an accident or are more sinister forces at work?
The murdered woman was an unpopular and bullying presence in the household, but is that enough to explain someone doing away with her? In the meantime, Rozie is investigating the disappearance of a favorite painting from the palace. The two matters appear unconnected at first, but as more and more clues surface, it’s clear there’s wickedness afoot in Buckingham Palace and these two seemingly random events are part of the conspiracy.
The most recent entry inthe series is Murder Most Royal, with the story taking place over the Christmas following the events in A Three Dog Problem. The Queen has retreated to Sandringham in Norfolk for her annual winter break, but all is not joy to the world when a severed hand washed up on the beach beside the estate. As the murders pile up, one upon another, the Queen and Rozie have to work at breakneck pace to find the killer before there is yet another victim. And every clue leads Her Majesty closer to home.
If you enjoy a good cozy mystery, I think these could be just the thing for you. They’re warm and witty and beautifully constructed. I’m very much looking forward to book 4, A Death in Diamonds, which is out in February next year. This takes Her Majesty back to the beginning of her reign in 1957. What rip-roaring, regal fun!