It's unusual for both of us to read the same mystery, but
we do so when it comes to the series of Elizabethan era mysteries set in
England. In the "Murder at Whitehall" the author brings back the main
characters of Queen Elizabeth and Kate, her musician (and solver of mysteries).
The novel is filled with intricate details of the period, so you feel almost
overwhelmed by the detail of what people are wearing, eating and the
surroundings, but it helps immerse you into the time period and place.
Although we
enjoyed this mystery as we have the others, it wasn't into well past the first
100 pages that the murder occurred, and the mystery began to make sense from
some of the details in the first 100 pages. So, read carefully, and don't be
impatient! Kate's character, her musician father, actor Rob Cartman, whom she
likes, and others are all very likeable. There's Spanish and Scottish visitors
to the castle that add to the mix and mystery. It's a good mystery (although I
liked the first 2 better, because the moved along faster).
BOOK SUMMARY: Murder at Whitehall (Elizabethan Mysteries #4)
The acclaimed author of Murder in the Queen’s Garden returns to Tudor England with amateur sleuth Kate Haywood embroiled in court intrigue and a devastating scandal.
1559. The Twelve Days of Christmas at Whitehall Palace will be celebrated as a grand affair. But there are those who wish to usher in the New Year by ending Queen Elizabeth’s reign....
Despite evenings of banquets and dancing, the European delegates attending Her Majesty’s holiday festivities are less interested in peace on earth than they are in fostering mistrust. Kate, the queen’s personal musician, hopes she can keep the royal guests entertained.
But then Queen Elizabeth receives a most unwanted gift—an anonymous letter that threatens to reveal untoward advances from her beloved Queen Catherine’s last husband, Thomas Seymour. Tasked with finding the extortionist, Kate has barely begun investigating when one of Spain’s visiting lords is found murdered. With two mysteries to unravel and an unsettling number of suspects to consider, Kate finds herself caught between an unscrupulous blackmailer and a cold-blooded killer..
