I recently enjoyed the 5th in Amanda Carmack's Elizabethan Mystery series called "Murder at Fontainebleau." The mystery takes place during the reign of England's Queen Elizabeth I and features lead character named Kate who is the queen's musician, confidante and has solved several murders. Kate has a couple of potential love interests, and in this 5th book in the series, the complications continue to grow. The author is so descriptive of places and people in the book, that you have to read it closely to keep track of all the characters. The author immerses you into the year 1561 and in this story, the author takes you to France where you meet Mary Queen of Scots (before she tried to steal the English throne from Queen Elizabeth) and her mother-in-law, Queen Catherine. This takes place after Mary's French husband died.
Although I enjoyed the book, it took about 2/3rds of the way to get to the murder, that had to be solved quickly. I usually like books that open with the mystery in the beginning and either works backward or forward from there. It just seemed that it took a long time to get to the mystery, but once it was there, I was hooked. I give it 4 out of 5 stars! - Rob
ABOUT THE BOOK: In the latest Elizabethan mystery by the author of Murder at Whitehall, amateur sleuth Kate Haywood investigates deadly machinations unfolding behind the scenes in the magnificent French court.
1561. Queen Elizabeth's throne is threatened as Mary Queen of Scots--pushed in every direction by opposing and powerful forces--declares herself the rightful Queen of England. To discover her rival's next unpredictable move, Elizabeth dispatches a party of trustworthy intimates to Mary's court at Fontainebleau. Chief among them is Kate Haywood, who finds that the glittering balls and genial banquets conceal a web of poisonous ambition that soon turns deadly.
When a beautiful and disruptively flirtatious member of the visiting party is murdered, Kate suspects that the man who stands accused has been set up to discredit Elizabeth. She vows to find the real killer, but the French court is a labyrinth unlike any she has ever navigated before--and at every turn there are more traps set to spring.
