Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

A Pawn for a Queen: An Ursula Blanchard Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's
A Pawn for a Queen: An Ursula Blanchard Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's
A Pawn for a Queen: An Ursula Blanchard Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's
Ebook364 pages6 hours

A Pawn for a Queen: An Ursula Blanchard Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

An intricate historical mystery featuring the deadly conflict between Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots—and a heroine who discovers some shocking secrets about her parentage.

A quiet life at Withysham with her young daughter is all that widowed Ursula Blanchard desires. But as the waiting woman and spy for Queen Elizabeth I, she forfeits her needs for the sake of those she is pledged to protect—even at her own peril...

Ursula's relatives enlist her help when her cousin, Edward Faldene, heads to Scotland carrying a dangerous weapon: a secret list of families loyal to Elizabeth's rival, Mary, Queen of Scots. Desperate to stop the treasonous mission, Ursula rides north in haste to intercept her cousin. It is a journey made without royal permission, and one made in vain....

Ursula arrives in Edinburgh too late—and finds herself tracking a killer inside the Scottish queen's court. Whom can she trust? Mary, the enemy, who is in fact kind and charming? Her genial courtiers? The aristocrat who vies for Ursula's heart? Every player falls under suspicion in a sinister game in which, for a queen, everyone is a pawn.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherScribner
Release dateMay 21, 2013
ISBN9781476745213
A Pawn for a Queen: An Ursula Blanchard Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's
Author

Fiona Buckley

Fiona Buckley is the author of eight historical mystery novels featuring Ursula Blanchard: To Shield the Queen, The Doublet Affair, Queen's Ransom, To Ruin a Queen, Queen of Ambition, A Pawn for a Queen, The Fugitive Queen, and The Siren Queen. She lives in North Surrey, England.

Read more from Fiona Buckley

Related to A Pawn for a Queen

Related ebooks

Mystery For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for A Pawn for a Queen

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

4 ratings3 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is an interesting premise for a mystery. Historical settings for mysteries are fairly common now but, in most cases, the detective is male. Think Cadfael, think Marcus Didius Falco and numerous others. In this series the detective is Ursula Blanchard, a one-time lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I. This is the 6th book in the series and Ursula is now a widow from her second husband, Matthew de la Roche. She has been trying to live a quiet life in a former monastery that was given to her by the Queen for services rendered. However, her uncle and aunt want her to intercept her cousin Edward who is on his way to Edinburgh to the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her uncle, aunt and cousin are Catholic and supporters of Mary as the true Queen of England and Edward is delivering a list of all supporters in England. His parents have become concerned that he is going to be caught by Queen Elizabeth's men and tried for treason. They believe Ursula, as a family member, may be able to persuade him to return before reaching Scotland. Ursula, although she harbours no love for her aunt and uncle, agrees to go which means riding a horse most of the length of England in January. With her travel her faithful companions, Roger Brockley and Fran Dale, because a young woman certainly cannot travel alone. I got a real sense of the times, how people lived, died (especially died as life in those days was apt to be snuffed out in many different ways), worshipped, and loved. The quote from the New York Times Book Review says the Ursula Blanchard mysteries are "A richly researched historical series" although I don't know if this is true. I'm going to pass this book on to BellBelle who does know a thing or two (or multitudes of things) about the history of this time and see what she thinks. I thought it was interesting enough that I'm going to be looking for more of this series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ok so I caved, I read another one of these. I know they are fluff, it's a guilty pleasure.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another easy to read murder mystery in the Ursula Blanchard series. I feel I know the characters really well now and greet them like old friends with each new novel in the series.

Book preview

A Pawn for a Queen - Fiona Buckley

.abook_preview_excerpt.html}˲#Ǒ$6C]Z4Ҋ=*, `>. \#;O%sqĽ(_/yL/bcqM7\S_Klv8VM>ڳS;M3n8U=|)9s8Ρ rVaWM+bS1{ T]V %aSh!n#nb!rtjN~lxSwU )r\=zfW ͍Tf2Qmh+rLt+2W-jj|iGy;WGRl1m/S8ؚLqg.JPʉכ`Y{CO  ^L؟~ߥ $?Ama2C fzjGK~\k 0 @Hz0T]Vo^as3Ul LXxЕy!g9Ćꦢ7 YjdԨxdHS>Xl)?$8#i?0Uq8}ɏKWi%äwطIjo5Ң*B7b}.bj4DaFlMl'e:lR}콦:FXr=t"0-cH0i [.1V27_;ddmaT0/#xWH#]^vS.18 Ka^VQBݜ==^8::BV؞X`x1s-uʖL>}K CչJD,$LDtK=o2ivq=|~ $@klPXi[Jtɬ$"!)"\]o ϓi~=.3-Z @9]u8L#dd+̏ ό`8\̇|GC Dq=8RH6!987(H e*]U08]HNcX9(4·BZBlȰ<nߜphVw4|'b]Ʈ{4}MG{N"/~YxF x܈AWnuL0ZMJ%\5Dh {ng;CVfM4!cfQZb!8~qO# ny4RN'GBaێЀB@i[O`ܞ#c3o;DjB~ 58\*l<"c'd>~Cfhrz!P<6/7y *vhӘғ-,/ ~o~2?!Xz]B, 5\X2״&&6&,(՟*;ez~:4]w6GuuUx>e(wt 6ߎ? eBm5gsĄpdt)WBpKW>K> JۿZ&"Na̓%mJ_)}fY/BPU #i|)I˜5턹2jTP=DG%fTqkhM<B/ml"=Y}þUy8'@^*iFl`.˽}%O)}y \058$هr";l(jy0~qI :i¦Jx`@V:U.sj< wFA g//,.;O60?~b̸A@A%ط-ylz%U$@PIX!aD-!a f% `vGW.2JeY.oG~ lH(LG,5^׍tUaIX" I3g2eB9' hEMM0jԐ e9g|) gwXrÉGEL^AfzmΞ4<hzim[Dz5OQW̭o-߇Ah!`tEr)TSDYKhվQK][Gw<F-ڟC !O;urΥв :,;$#xh`Rᚶ%`ǫB!r}w^Fw>K₽-XVڏ߈FUrˌʀO؉pM9 |3g[2\済kٱ8b-LoXr) ~ LհokOdO/5\ظQ.:QJj3yGD/L1gV0 izR$Sj7$`PPz .U^>6xR$f|HG:X8LEeE<:z2$[̼3mJ+3|.pޡ'ǃ%_Kr>+,,4mG<1w՟iBVVd#Ff¿8/< <aȘ=LZ 7ŁLȏfU˳9y`u̔OPLN]﷬} :K]Pwa+[8-g ~Zx0`:Gi,r ia =]lV7=j9/c2:roZpܚviHk73~y6?xi3eȶ܇V^[-iPD6M @ 3Yڇ%->CWaF [L<٤OVUǷk릁.O"'cm#:+^V @i(7AEX}S />yOU<2ru\)7^ I0`!@!+^PԽVavsSƚlfkx2/gE"C8t<9EZ*٧'!ɽfqx'?5iAUPF`g0?`вj26,IhQ̖h5>! %(֫WGwȹV,>6w)ʆl>&½ *7j }:^ɉ:h 8tw@G`Biq|32 9^sm[ٙcx9Sdlт#S(J6$O9 Xдǡ=N*@PG<2v~pȵc Næ|_`64d0H-5%]Pl+"]16}Z0_n!:Ae m4ז~͙4xPKzRe:aw&̀)U{&h!\}3IqYƝ3p'hgԪdQzI{tG JW?S$(f%Y1D((/""~bR71xqYyjKd:9jiôV+D>ͽ6FJώomӄk~ Ңq o`LαRv\۬IP V/ Wی m"$cB,QZB)"fp5ڐAJUVRbXѢqv"(1G)):G<Kjy8l([Hgu5d^ݿι 60SeCh|OI++/Qr& ek QB-GɔY {$&n蔳-\YhHt@L8h;dES]St?[-UV0uI.V:q[<ն/|QZޭ͒|ڔbvⅱ:Zz7Bĥ;Ne4ѭ|Ufnjt4[zeT? eC`\$_6.g4 QwsVZR%3S (:0UZf2ȧ6lٲ^?Lgdu[+(}4g`=y| p[fESF>\0YY_^:d%Մ?|Ü?YM]8j]a׾YXjJ*(\E28 ҈}5*evba3fU~~##/qQ5OO/0N_dUhVT~` /G bR1!$rw[n'*wz( ֺ `7l!UI04?xĪfK?XTdIV>_+M'146AϚ)GLIrg&5v+WiX`ˈsoLX԰@5M,lm4-zXJt}j}>,r&2D\S7ħ1BLSR^ϹZuJ& rK[K)`zv M8'l8AɎ *7 Nt4 9';3v➁^5Ϲ' ES'b8$9&ΞK|zMˈ mCf7q x,ܥJxm픚asˏ[%\Us'_ ]9&󚭐]Ip)F[LlUaɒu9oK ;3n!Ka]0Iw"L#9a+<3ϩ}+.$|HW{NԧJݜ=i F^Bx8_'p 2goŝmlk 6z]ܚܙ)vⵥ[{Ah7'bNJ ^xX".Pq|5{ U8aS^"4eZk,C4yeD6W`L͍M!NKr]8{@$Fj-}R=mװw`WLA$x36؅ mێt#jk] 3חi,ɿ:4 )fRsd>ZHJ quy}e vx 1$|M9 ,eQbe ڳs= X iؓPY,JQ\1U7OZ4Y_aW6`͐pFSҭiu|v`t@ڈ[ޫjt:vimH8A<.zQz`LxL,k .)xLNdp67Jinm|da߾95X:YGy\AّVNh"kn|rCReo M-ָ2A9!S$muŴ k֖l'fL|u7O}QP'NgtdwGj=ba~!TGH.[Bm:%‚LzvhE-o뒕 ͊JM&R2MHc:`*sv\ϒI܏I_cw1ڜ4F睏fL&3gQAY[X;%cj$&ʲMCh.ޭ".̗-u3,{&~G<J%fd}$0m~`M~ eڭ*J*;r6􃾣d3竪(CC:O|S=tuqPFh#>,2t"VٷV("['Rذ26tP5Ӻ}ɋTsN!cdm`qup F6Cg(Q[`ZmLTߢ|5狚L4~:S Bc͔ ލ̫sEتqj4"q9 !L< /N@˅`#U7c^Q&yT ~;5yN=;H%jԌ$j_FWA: #NF D$-_v <|d5c ϾkLf_ωw9YM;G|SrPgy ,Vl6v^eԫx;I2 C8) "h y7aZĠ5m0F,y&\m+HO"sh̆(amAYki^;)'Kcשagb[uib)Vɑ^ShSe;ѣ*gk9 50 bVCfOy3 =sfjzlmͩLcuن'< @Ɋ5#aˎq%OrQ63})>an&hV& \sֻ|^>udYS-E!xZVp=:+ﭤpuP;K͘gVބN;Gq:m@, [#2~_[5Ռ/IՋqs[Nv}L:YU%zo U^>59jᮚKt_C l:lzI\v oǰȣbsKb57˘KF0VS *0Z=Sn=NL$\]{n+1)l}@B6y9FʕφrTΦȈ|'a/g@e&Nlv:n;[L9nu8Gn.@* F%a?Xۗ90yCƼsR2ZvxRrIy>jVC/ 5;uѺ1<*﵉(7-SYCn$nPl:Сv2?P2{5Jk?5SV=:6p*~k%3q_ :/#\ᑽ [J>[ ?p2˔#>ƹ R`œ5ɔZ:ex\&Ic_KYw)FBOi'hMKy S]5Y,[ZP6u/r!J^aޖDYl2ʄkJ9N/bF9\u$<"u?&̭TνKm6 VߥUfP9MYZKpfBx ) WHNn#_zt-x 6 Ag: nS4ʕ`K6g,+꺕+m+;3NJ bcZj6˼K;]fq[^2zL oGEyuvE,k =aw{uX{.u 2~&ډ˙;b./UlEP3 zWC0?L|/7Xdz KΌjmwV7߶Ëiy}PZ!D 3Ξ,KVWk˺k\[EQ(s/ӋhOh1hvw3ŶU9y沥uSh뵽G fqr'??2 +-|^`S[qM4C`KJ1l@2T( %-֯2uŹL}-a.}H:sbn"ї2-mR6^m6M&X|PO{oHV FKOh;90qUx&}UPv}Ui,, ,0v犺d_$j!2NnP/ce;m/ܓy{mT 6&JM$ ~qt|s :cKgM@ l/FzZ 'H/.ZvY-M|ӌ!k碜~vBY۫rs淖7k~J7j0N*ϸ.$+eH kd`NK]O5;DT9`_c>Jeo'U9.,Q z2dvY8N-\98ݴmÐp"c6>g8uS3tVU^#9@bY uYetSn?\?(lb9xOΰ̓r<|)ԤgF{g.nA9xVqhbId(}6$IzO() k1O[pg[1S^*q_5ynʵ@܈|S ya8]koJf O )NfB!\6gcVvʖv?]9ͨRZ{6B$WJָ ȵ[˞(n>zj? ?\{Z gϓ-9^fIl`2,c^x(B24cߢ:qO;ttB@-j.0ye_bH ]4>/'ƏqF>;Xpb"k4wl =uGGy J(5-}.Vn \^8R;mLqq1EE*_NU<TChU)c\znȭCGƙD(ԖBHjPwgC9KsPut͛Jw;#4n<Mg (䗛 ϊLTVU\v9.O~}$pw ngxsrcB?c5[4w7O=wXFi 5||>!jo)?et'YSx)wf>]ZWqS7u|&ydhG*aHu ?kRJ΂mFT+Kw飦xF&_!C_Ĭ)ܼ8ȒnɹnoφD"=rlv/d%X8)jr
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1