Tato britská autorka se specializuje na historickou fikci, přičemž pod pseudonymem Fiona Buckley vytváří napínavé historické detektivky zasazené do doby vlády Alžběty I. Její vlastní jméno je spojeno s rozsáhlými romány o anglické královské rodině a s pětidílnou sérií "Bridges over Time", která sleduje osudy jedné rodiny napříč staletími, od jedenáctého do devatenáctého století. Její práce se vyznačuje hlubokým ponořením do historie a živým vykreslením života v minulosti.
May 1589. When a strangled corpse is found and Ursula Stannard learns through her connections at Court that English vessels are being plundered by a trio of mysterious ships, she once again takes on the mantle of secret agent. But with someone willing to kill to protect their secrets and a bounty of golden cargo at stake, Ursula is in danger ...
February, 1586. When the queen's spymaster learns that Ursula is to visit her relatives in Devon, he asks her to find out what has happened to two of his local agents. On arrival in the small village of Zeal Aquatico, Ursula discovers that both spies in question have met with mysterious - and fatal - accidents. Or is there more to it than that?
March, 1588. As King Philip of Spain amasses a vast fleet of warships ready to invade England, Queen Elizabeth and her advisors seek a possible alliance with the Duke of Parma, Governor of the Netherlands. Ursula Stannard finds herself plunged into a hotbed of intrigue and rumour at the Duke of Parma's court, a place where no one is to be trusted.
April, 1590. Ursula Stannard, the queen's half-sister and occasional secret agent, is summoned back to her childhood home, Faldene House, after Sir Francis Walsingham's funeral. But her return puts those closest to her in grave danger. Ursula's foes, the Mercer brothers, are set on revenge, and they'll go to any lengths to achieve it . . .
The queen's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, has ordered Ursula to keep an eye on her new neighbor, Giles Frost, who is rumored to be a spy. Events take a sinister turn when a body is found in the woods near Ursula's home
May, 1586. Ursula and her retinue return home from a lengthy trip to discover she has an unexpected visitor. Etheldreda Hope is a simple countrywoman who has come to Ursula with disturbing tales of strange goings-on in her rural village. Fearing that Etheldreda's reports of mysterious forest rites indicate a possible conspiracy to overthrow Queen Elizabeth in favour of her cousin, Mary Stuart, the queen's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, orders Ursula to travel to Etheldreda's home to find out what's really going on. On reaching Chenston village, deep in the New Forest, Ursula discovers an isolated, suspicious community; the locals deeply in thrall to the old pagan traditions and beliefs. But are these ancient customs harmless -- or are they part of a genuine conspiracy against the queen? And, if so, who is behind it? It's not until the night of Halloween that Ursula will discover the shocking truth
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.
Pirates in Penzance? Queen Elizabeth's half-sister and secret agent Ursula Blanchard takes on a dangerous new mission involving mysterious disappearances and murder in Cornwall in this gripping Tudor mystery. 1594. Ursula Blanchard is attending on her half-sister, Queen Elizabeth, when she receives an urgent summons from Sir Robert Cecil. Cornishman Master Roskilly was fished out of the sea by Sir Francis Godolphin, and has a shocking tale of being snatched by pirates and put on a slave vessel to Constantinople before his audacious escape. And he's not the only one . . . Folk in Cornwall are mysteriously disappearing. But why are only exceptional or unusual individuals being kidnapped, and could there be a link to two recent murders? With the queen's annual progress stalled, Ursula agrees to go undercover to unmask those responsible, knowing that Queen Elizabeth would be the most prized captive of all . . .
A Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court: Introducing Ursula Blanchard
With the glamour and intrigue of the court of Queen Elizabeth I as its backdrop, and an entrancing new heroine -- widow Ursula Blanchard -- sniffing out clandestine conspiracies, this enthralling new historical mystery series will have a special appeal for fans of Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael novels.The year is 1560. The setting is the court of Queen Elizabeth. Ursula Blanchard, an impoverished young widow newly come to court, is sent to Cumnor Place to protect the queens reputation by looking after Amy Robsart, wife of Sir Robert Dudley, courtier to the queen and prime subject of scandalous rumors swirling about the palace. When Amy is found lying with a broken neck at the bottom of the staircase in her home, many suspect foul play. The queen, in love with Dudley, had a motive. Dudley, ambitious to marry Elizabeth, certainly had reason to wish his wife dead. Indeed, in the months before her death, Amy herself believed she was being poisoned. Amy's violent end, and Ursula's own failure to prevent it, along with the brutal murder of someone dear to her, propel Ursula on a perilous quest that will touch her in the most terrifying personal way, as her own young daughter is threatened. By the novel's end, the queen's spymaster and secretary of state has launched Ursula on a new career as one of his agents, setting the stage for the further adventures of one of the most enterprising and endearing heroines in historical mystery fiction.
A Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court: Featuring Ursula Blanchard
Young Ursula knows it can be treacherous casing herself into the petty foibles at court; but now, having once saved the Virgin Queen from political disaster, she faces an even greater challenge. Some 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. 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. 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.
