Murder Most Royal: The brand-new murder mystery from the author of THE WINDSOR KNOT

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Agatha Christie meets The Crown in MURDER MOST ROYAL , the much-anticipated third book in the 'Her Majesty The Queen Investigates' mystery series by SJ Bennett - for fans of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, Agatha Christie and M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin. Murder Most Royal is the third book in SJ Bennett's "Her Majesty The Queen Investigates" series. Before reviewing the book 2 things. Yes it features the late Queen Elizabeth the Second in a fictional role and no it's no way disrespectful and I'm sure with her known wry sense of humour our late Monarch would enjoy these books and find the whole thing quite amusing. With the winter break coming to an end, the Queen and her trusted assistant Rozie must race to discover how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Or the next victim may be found even closer to home. However, all holiday festivities were to take a dark turn when Rozie Oshodi informed the Queen that a severed human hand was found washed up in the mudflats at Snettisham Beach. The hand had no identifying marks, other than a signet ring which was still on one of the fingers. When Rozie showed Her Majesty photographs of the hand (which she'd surreptitiously taken from the crime scene), the Queen recognised another identifying mark - The tragedy was fuelled by the king's refusal to let the crown prince marry his lover, Devyani Rana, who he met in 1989.

Obviously events of the last few months have made the story more poignant but it was still an enjoyable read which was amusing in places. Present-giving at Sandringham takes place on Christmas Eve - in the German tradition that they have observed since Prince Albert’s day. But what do you give a member of the family who has everything? Si el segundo libro de esta colección ya me convenció de que estos libros eran para mí, este tercero no hace más que cimentar esa certeza. Aunque es cierto que la ambientación navideña es tan mínima que me alegro de no haberlo reservado para diciembre, he disfrutado sobremanera de la atmosfera y los personajes que crea la autora. But when a second man is found dead, and a prominent local woman is nearly killed in a hit-and-run, the mystery takes an even darker turn. With the Christmas break coming to an end, the Queen and her trusted assistant Rozie must race to discover how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Or the next victim may be found even closer to home. Christmas at Sandringham was all about family. The Queen went there as a little girl and loved it as much as her parents did. When her grandfather died, the house and the estate naturally passed to her Uncle David, who briefly became King Edward VIII. When he abdicated, the Crown and all its lands passed to the Queens’s father, Bertie, who became King George VI … But not Sandringham. That was a personal residence, not part of the Crown, so Bertie had to use his inheritance to buy it from his brother. He then surrounded himself with uncles, aunts and cousins at Christmas time, as the Queen continued to do.Evidence that an aristocrat has gone missing—and was possibly murdered—near Sandringham House sets Queen Elizabeth II on the path to discover unsavory family secrets and much more in this new installment of the series the New York Times Book Review calls “sheer entertainment.” Devyani Rana fled Nepal and is reported to be in Europe. Her uncle, the Maharajah of Kashmir and an Indian politician, Dr Karen Singh, says she is also a victim: St Cyr led an unconventional, often controversial life, making many enemies along the way in the quiet, rural world of North Norfolk, where everyone knows each other's business.

This mystery centres around a local aristocratic family, whom the Queen knew quite well many years ago. In fact the victim used to come and play with Charles when he was boy. So there’s a personal connection that makes things a bit awkward but also a bit easier. I kept changing my mind about who the murderer was because of all the red herrings, and only really discovered who it was when the big reveal came! Do you see that flat-topped middle finger? He cut off the tip doing some carpentry when he was a teenager. But it's the signet ring, of course….Bloodstone. Quite distinctive. And that carving is of a swan from the family crest. This is the hand of Edward St Cyr.

Advance Praise

En cuanto al misterio, me ha parecido bastante complejo y bien construido, bastante difícil de averiguar, pero muy entretenido, aunque quizás le sobren algunos callejones sin salido/misterios secundarios y paralelos. O a mí por lo menos me habría bastado con menos. No obstante, ni se me ha hecho largo ni nada por el estilo. Y a pesar de hablar sobre cadáveres y miembros apuntados, el hecho es que es una historia que me hace sentir en paz mientras la leo. Sinceramente, creo que esos dos aspectos son el punto fuerte de estas historias. La atmosfera palaciega y noble y la peculiaridad de nuestra detective de turno: la reina Isabel II. Sí que es cierto que hay que tener en cuenta que este libro habla de la reina desde una perspectiva de cariño y sin adentrarse en temas que pueden ser problemáticos. Es decir, prácticamente vemos solo los blancos de la monarca, ni los grises ni, mucho menos, los negros. No es algo que a mí me haya molestado, pero me parece que no está de más mencionarlo, al ser libros basados en una persona real. El retrato que se hace aquí de ella no es ajustado 100% a la realidad. Pero la forma de pensar de la reina en el libro, sus interacciones con el resto de personajes, su inteligencia, su humor... Esta versión sobre el papel me encanta. He looked exactly like the Terminator, absolutely expressionless and very focused, and that look still haunts me. Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: The Ultimate Guide to Celebrating Christmas with the Best Drinks Books On The Shelves Princess Ketaki claims that the crown prince was frustrated at the thought of fulfilling the role of a modern monarch and was reluctant to relinquish the feudal role of absolute king.