April 8, 2013
An appealing heroine makes up for some choppy pacing in Buckley’s well-constructed 11th Tudor mystery (after 2012’s Queen’s Bounty). In 1571, Ursula Blanchard, half-sister to the queen, is planning a quiet country life after the death of her devoted husband of six years, Hugh Stannard. But Sir William Cecil, England’s secretary of state, wants her to undertake a dangerous mission on Elizabeth’s behalf. Ursula is to escort Margaret Emory, who of late has been a surrogate daughter to Ursula (whose grown daughter has left home), to the Netherlands to marry a well-to-do cattle farmer, Antonio van Weede, who’s half Italian and half Flemish. Antonio’s Catholicism recommends him highly to Margaret’s Catholic parents. Cecil wants Ursula to learn whatever she can about conspiracies against Elizabeth during her extended stay in the Low Countries. Ursula, a reluctant servant of the Crown, soon finds herself immersed in political intrigue. Buckley (the pen name of Valerie Anand) once again delivers a tale sure to please fans of Elizabethan historicals.
