While I am always on the hunt for new non-fiction royal history and biography books, I find far fewer fictional books. However, there are a few standouts. SJ Bennett’s Her Majesty The Queen Investigates series is a delightful and highly entertaining collection of mysteries where Queen Elizabeth II solves various murders, and it is one of my favourite series. We return to a young QEII who is dealing with yet another murder as she carries on with royal business, as usual for a brilliant new story. Let’s get into The Queen Who Came in from the Cold by SJ Bennett.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an eARC and Advanced Listening Copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Queen Who Came in from the Cold, SJ Bennett
It’s 1961 and the Queen is planning her state visit to Italy aboard Britannia. But before she goes, an unreliable witness claims to have seen a brutal murder from the royal train. Did it really happen, and could the victim be a missing friend of Princess Margaret’s new husband, Tony Armstrong Jones?
The Queen and her assistant private secretary, Joan McGraw, get to work on their second joint investigation, little imagining that this time it will take them all the way to Venice in a tale of spies, lies and Cold War skulduggery.
Why You Should Read This…
The first book in this series (The Windsor Knot) is set in 2016, and the second and third books follow along. However, the fourth book* (A Death in Diamonds) goes back to the 1950s where a very young Queen Elizabeth solves her first murder. And The Queen Who Came in from the Cold has continued on with the younger queen! While the first three were great fun, I do find that our younger Elizabeth is even more entertaining. If you are intrigued but haven’t read the first four books, don’t worry- this can be read as a stand alone.
Her Majesty and her assistant, Joan, are on the case when the royal train passes by a murder scene. Not only do we have the understated curiosity of the beloved monarch, we are diving further into the royal family as a whole and the characters that surround them. I have always found Princess Margaret to be fascinating, so I loved her inclusion- she made the story all the more fun. And her wider entourage is in no way short of entertainment.
The historical setting also fleshes out the story nicely. Not only do we have the background of The Queen’s trip to Venice aboard Britannia (and an associated voyage), we have got the early 1960s complete with James Bond about to take over. Bennett has a lovely way of blending history with her fictional story that makes it all the more rich, and it really pays off here.
* While I was in London, I was actually able to get a signed copy of A Death in Diamonds! I was shocked to see how many different signed copies of books that Waterstones has; it is definitely worth checking if you find yourself in London.
Is The Queen Who Came in from the Cold on your to-read list?
Cheers,
The Historian
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I love these books and listened to them several times the Samantha Bond readings are especially comforting. It was a long wait for this one but it didn’t disappoint, the humour is always delightful, the plot satisfying, and QEII so reassuring.
I am really loving the earlier setting- this series is always a highlight of my reading year!!