The Net of Steel

March 27, 2023
In Buckley’s tense 22nd Ursula Blanchard mystery (after 2022’s Golden Cargoes), Elizabeth I’s resourceful half-sister and lady-in-waiting is rattled by enemies from her past. At the outset, Ursula is riding high in her late-Tudor milieu: she’s a landowner and happy grandmother on excellent terms with the queen. Shortly after her Uncle Herbert’s funeral, though, people close to Ursula start turning up dead: Herbert’s wife appears to poison herself and a friend is killed in a mysterious riding accident. As Ursula and her 18-year-old son, Harry, grapple with their shock and grief, evidence emerges that the deaths might be connected, and someone with a vendetta against Ursula for her activities on behalf of the queen might have even more ominous crimes planned. The pacing is superb, with twists and betrayals keeping the action at a boil. While the sheer number of characters accumulated over this long series may prove daunting at times, lovers of Tudor fiction will enjoy the carefully researched details of daily life woven into the suspense. This highly entertaining historical mystery delivers. Agent: David Grossman, David Grossman Literary.

April 15, 2023
Ursula Standard, who's undertaken many dangerous missions as a spy for Queen Elizabeth I, her half sister, never imagined that her past could put her friends and relatives in danger. Thrice-married Ursula, her son, Harry, and her faithful servants, Dale and Roger Brockley, arrive at Faldene House, her childhood home, for her uncle's funeral in 1590. Her relationship with her aunt and uncle may have been uneasy, but when Aunt Tabitha dies a painful death from poison during Ursula's stay, Ursula is certain she didn't commit suicide. When her cousin Francis insists she stay for the reading of the wills, she learns, much to her surprise, that she's been left Faldene House. Harry hastens home to his betrothed, Eleanor, but he can't prevent her from being killed in a riding accident he doesn't think was an accident. The two suspicious deaths make no sense until Harry's half brother on his father's side, Capt. Julien de la Roche, arrives with a chilling tale. Matthew de la Roche was Ursula's second husband, but his identity as a French Catholic and an enemy of Queen Elizabeth doomed their marriage to brevity. Julien has been involved with the piratical Mercer brothers, whom Ursula knew during her marriage to Matthew. They wrongly blame Ursula for their mother's death, and they plan to take revenge by attacking Ursula's family and eventually killing her. Now that Ursula and her devoted friends know why Tabitha and Eleanor died, they can take on the daunting task of protecting themselves and each other. They do their utmost to protect Ursula's property even as the merciless Mercers manage to do more damage. Though much of this mystery is focused on relationships, there's plenty of action to move the story forward.

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