In this compelling debut of her historical mystery series, Fiona Buckley introduces Ursula Blanchard, a widowed young mother who has become lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I. Armed with a sharp eye, dangerous curiosity, and uncanny intelligence, Ursula pledges... To Shield the Queen Rumor has linked Queen Elizabeth I to her master of horse, Robin Dudley. As gossip would have it, only his ailing wife, Amy, prevents marriage between Dudley and the Queen. To quell the idle tongues at court, the Queen 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 conceals a wellspring of blood and lies.

To Shield the Queen

Literature & Fiction

Buckley, Fiona

British & Irish

Pocket_Books

The Doublet Affair

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

Pocket

In a historical mystery, lady-in-waiting to the new Queen Elizabeth I Ursula Blanchard is sent by her liege to France with a letter for the Queen Mother, Catherine de MTdicis, that could prevent war between rival Protestant and Catholic factions. Reprint.

Queen's Ransom: A Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court Featuring Ursula Blanchard

When Elizabethan "secret agent" Ursula Blanchard is re-united with her husband, she learns that her daughter has disappeared and investigates, uncovering a sinister plot to dethrone her queen in the process. Reprint.

To Ruin A Queen: An Ursula Blanchard Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court

When Ursula Blanchard, a poor young widow in 1560, is sent to Queen Elizabeth's palace to protect the queen's reputation, she becomes involved in solving the murder of the wife of a man with whom the queen has fallen in love. 15,000 first printing.

TO SHIELD THE QUEEN (Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court)

Children's Books

Scribner

A tantalizing re-creation of Elizabethan life and manners told with intelligence and wit," raved Library Journal upon the publication of To Shield the Queen, the volume that introduced twenty-six-year-old Ursula Blanchard, Lady of the Presence Chamber to Queen Elizabeth I, and one of the most entrancing mystery heroines to come along in many a season. 
 Young Ursula knows it can be treacherous easing herself into the petty foibles at court, but now, having once saved the Virgin Queen from political disaster, she faces an even greater challenge. Sortie of Ursula's old acquaintances may be plotting to overthrow Elizabeth in favor of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the re-establishment of the Catholic faith. Ardent, some would say fanatical, believers will stop at nothing -- smuggling, counterfeiting, civil war, perhaps murder -- to further their cause. One of Elizabeth's spies is already dead and the clues to his death point in a troubling direction. 
 Most disturbing to Ursula is whether her old friends Ann and Leonard Mason could be mixed up in a treasonous plot against the Queen. There have been rumors that all is not as it should be with the Masons. 
 Secretary of state Sir William Cecil needs his own spy in the Mason home and Ursula is the obvious choice, She knows the family, she can justify her visit by helping to care for the Masons' five children, and she can perhaps use her newly acquired skill at lockpiching to uncover some surprising truths. 
 Torn between her devotion to Elizabeth, still a young woman like herself, and her longing to be reunited with her exiled Catholic husband, Matthew, in France, Ursula makes a difficult bargain that balances personal happiness against duty to Queen and country. Her journey takes her into dangerous territory eventually into the underground cells of the Tower of London itself Whatever happens, she will never again be quite as trusting or quite as secure.

The DOUBLET AFFAIR: AN URSULA BLANCHARD MYSTERY AT QUEEN ELIZABETH I'S COURT (Ursula Blanchard Mysteries)

Long live the Queen! A magnificent Queen Elizabeth I reigned in the movie Shakespeare in Love, but it is the younger queen of the film Elizabeth whom we meet in Fiona Buckley's acclaimed Ursula Blanchard mystery series. 
 It's 1562 and Catholic Spain threatens the stability of Protestant England. In France, the Protestant Huguenots also face threats from the powerful Catholics. Fearing that such pro-Catholic movements might spread to England, Elizabeth hopes to mediate a peace between the two French factions. 
 Enter Ursula Blanchard, twenty-seven-year-old Lady of the Presence Chamber, who has a special mandate from Sir William Cecil, Secretary of State, to spy on behalf of the queen. Nearly the same age as Elizabeth, Ursula has already proved herself worthy of the queen's gratitude in difficult and dangerous situations. 
 The queen wants Ursula to go to France, where civil war may break out at any moment, to hand-carry a letter from Elizabeth to France's queen mother and regent, Catherine de Médicis. To keep her mission secret, Ursula will ostensibly accompany her former father-in-law, Luke Blanchard, a man she neither likes nor trusts, when he travels to France to fetch his young ward, Helene, to the safety of England. 
 Ursula has the queen's protection and she has with her her faithful servants Brockley and Dale. But she soon realizes that sinister forces threaten her. Is someone trying to prevent her from delivering the letter? Whom can she trust? Luke Blanchard? Helene? Her servants? Anthony Jenkinson, the blithe merchant adventurer whose path crosses hers and who has enemies of his own? Can she be sure even of the queen? What will happen to Meg, her little daughter left behind in England, if she fails to return? 
 Perhaps the most poignant of all, Ursula's second husband, Matthew, a Frenchman and an enemy of Elizabeth, is somewhere in France, but can she see him without bringing disaster on both of them? There is powerful chemistry between them but what is their destiny? 
 Ursula soon learns that she faces an enemy who will stop at nothing -- not murder, not torture, not charges of heresy that may lead to burning at the stake -- to destroy her. To prevail, she must undertake a desperate new mission of her own, with an innocent life at risk. 
 Murder, treason, treasure, passion -- they all combine to make a compelling historical mystery from an author whose vast knowledge of the period adds depth and color to this riveting new series.

When Elizabethan "secret agent" Ursula Blanchard is re-united with her husband, she learns that her daughter has disappeared and investigates, uncovering a sinister plot to dethrone her queen in the process. 17,500 first printing.

To Ruin A Queen : An Ursula Blanchard Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court

'A well written Elizabethan whodunnit.' - READING PANEL In September 1560, Robert Dudley's wife, Amy Robsart, was found dead at the bottom of the staircase in her house, Cumnor Place, Oxfordshire. Many suspected foul play. Queen Elizabeth, in love with Dudley, had a motive. Dudley, ambitious to marry Elizabeth, certainly had reason to wish his wife dead. Before her death, Amy herself had believed she was being poisoned, so Ursula Blanchard had been ordered to Cumnor Place to protect the Queen's reputation by protecting Amy. When Ursula's task ends in failure, and someone dear to her has also been brutally murdered, she begins a personal quest to learn the truth behind Amy's death...

The Robsart Mystery (U) (Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court)

Genre Fiction

Ulverscroft

The Doublet Affair (Ulverscroft Large Print Series)

Contemporary

Ulverscroft Crown

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Buckley, Fiona. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Buckley, Fiona

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Buckley, Fiona. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

To Shield the Queen

The Doublet Affair

Queen's Ransom: A Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court Featuring Ursula Blanchard

To Ruin A Queen: An Ursula Blanchard Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court

TO SHIELD THE QUEEN (Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court)

The DOUBLET AFFAIR: AN URSULA BLANCHARD MYSTERY AT QUEEN ELIZABETH I'S COURT (Ursula Blanchard Mysteries)

Queen's Ransom: A Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court Featuring Ursula Blanchard

To Ruin A Queen : An Ursula Blanchard Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court

The Robsart Mystery (U) (Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court)

The Doublet Affair (Ulverscroft Large Print Series)