Scent of Danger

May 15, 2020
Ursula Blanchard, the widowed, illegitimate half-sister of Queen Elizabeth I, works for Sir Francis Walsingham, the royal spymaster. She recruits agents to keep tabs on possible political dangers to the Crown. When Ursula plans a visit to a relative in Devon, Walsingham asks her to check on two agents who are late in reporting. Once she arrives in the village of Zeal Aquatico, she discovers that both men have died mysteriously. Further inquiries lead her to believe that their deaths were not accidental. Were they related to an alleged Spanish plot to invade England? Her investigation soon provides evidence that someone in the village does not want Ursula to discover the truth. Ursula is a determined, intrepid sleuth, and her eighteenth case in the long-running series delivers another satisfying mix of mystery and Elizabethan history. Suggest Ursula's adventures to fans of Suzanne M. Wolfe's recent The Course of All Treasons (2019), starring another Elizabethan spy, Nicholas Holt.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

March 1, 2020
For Queen Elizabeth's half sister and sometime spy, even a trip to visit relatives is fraught with danger in 1586. Ursula Stannard's last adventure (A Web of Silk, 2019, etc.) left her with twin girls to care for. One is now married; the other, 20-year-old Joyce, still lives with her and still blames her for her father's incarceration in the Tower of London. While going over the ledgers for one of her properties, Ursula realizes that her trusted steward has been cheating her. When she and Roger Brockley, her longtime servant and partner in adventure, ask for an explanation, the steward tells them he's being blackmailed by his Uncle Crispin about a youthful indiscretion. Deciding to kill three birds with one stone, Ursula, Joyce, the Brockleys, and a groom travel to Devon to threaten Crispin, visit her relatives, the Hillman family, and check up on two agents she recruited for Walsingham, the queen's spymaster. Upon their arrival, Ursula learns Peter Gray, one of the agents, has been killed in a very odd accident and that Gregory Reeves, the other agent, was found frozen to death on the moor. Certain that neither death was accidental, Ursula begins to ask questions. Because a fire at her relatives' house has made space tight, she and her party rent rooms from Henry and Catherine Gresham, a puritanical couple who are forcing their daughter, Mildred, into marriage with a much older man. Ursula seeks help from the vicar, Dr. Lucious Parker, and his homely but clever sister, Sabina. All too soon, word spreads about Ursula's quest, and she nearly dies when she's poisoned in a tavern. She recovers but becomes increasingly entangled in local affairs like Mildred's doomed romance. Sick and tired of endless involvement in the queen's business, she nevertheless feels it her duty to persevere even though she fears for her life. An action-packed mystery bathed in impeccable historic atmosphere.

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March 23, 2020
Set in 1586, Buckley’s gripping 18th mystery featuring wealthy widow Ursula Blanchard (after 2019’s A Web of Silk) takes Ursula, the half-sister of Elizabeth I, to Devon to visit relatives—which gives Sir Francis Walsingham, the queen’s secretary of state, the excuse to ask her to do some spying in the region. In particular, Sir Francis wants Ursula to check on two local agents of the queen whose last messages reported that money was possibly being collected for Mary, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth’s rival. They have been oddly silent since. When Ursula arrives in Devon, she learns that each of the agents has died in an accident. Ursula, who suspects the men were murdered, soon faces harm from ruthless unknown supporters of Mary who oppose Elizabeth. Amid misdirection and subtle clues, rumors surface that King Philip of Spain is planning to invade England. Details of the personal lives of those closest to Ursula complement the political intrigue. Buckley reinforces her place as the queen of Elizabethan historicals. Agent: David Grossman, David Grossman Literary.