Product Description

With historical mysteries and tales of Tudor England in high demand, acclaimed author Fiona Buckley returns with a poignant new novel featuring Ursula Blanchard, waiting woman and secret agent for Queen Elizabeth I.

Still loyal to her royal mistress but needing to be with her French husband, Matthew de la Roche, Ursula begins to build a new life for herself at Matthew's château. She loves Matthew, although she longs desperately for her little girl, Meg, left behind in England. But when Meg's passage is finally arranged, the child is missing. Where is she, and could her disappearance be part of a plot to tempt Ursula back to her homeland?

Frightened for her child, Ursula follows a trail that leads to the home of the ancient Mortimer family, the mysterious Vetch Castle, a grim, haunted keep on the Welsh border. There she finds castle owner Philip Mortimer, who boasts that he will force Queen Elizabeth to restore the fortunes of his once-great family. There, too, Ursula finds Philip's mother, the aging but still beautiful Lady Thomasine, who is frightened by her son's claims and pleads for Ursula's help in discovering what it is that he knows.

What deadly secrets does this castle hide? What ghostly faces look from the windows of the deserted southwest tower? What has Philip Mortimer discovered? The secrets of Vetch Castle could be dangerous, especially if they concern the Queen -- dangerous to the Mortimers and to Ursula and those she loves, as she soon learns to her peril.

Richly evocative of its rugged English and Welsh setting, precise in its historical detail, and filled with memorable characters, To Ruin a Queen will affirm Fiona Buckley's growing reputation as a queen of historical crime.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #881917 in Books
• Published on: 2001-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 400 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Readers with a taste for melodramatic suspense will relish this solid historical, the fourth in the Ursula Blanchard series from the pseudonymous Buckley. Upon learning that her daughter has been kidnapped, Ursula hastens home from France to England. The kidnapping, however, proves to have been a ruse. A plot is afoot in Wales to blackmail Queen Elizabeth, and Ursula must go undercover to learn the particulars and prevent a scandalAor worse. Aided by her manservant Brockley, Ursula contends with such challenges as her near-death during childbirth, a haunted watchtower, an attempted rape, a menacing witch and repeated instances of sexism. (The oppression of women is vividlyAif rather insistentlyAportrayed.) Buckley (Queen's Ransom) fills the plot with harrowing twists: Ursula and Brockley are accused of murder and thrown in a musty dungeon; Ursula and two comrades face what appears certain death, trapped in an abandoned lodge high in the Welsh mountains. Ursula's steely nerves, keen intuition and abiding devotion to the queen see her through it all. Buckley takes a Chaucerian interest in characters from all social strata, their garments, physical distinctions and manners. At times, such pedantic details stop the plot cold. In addition, some readers will be put off by the author's habit of withholding key information from them while revealing it to the characters. Buckley's loyal following, however, should make this as much a success as previous books in the series. (Dec. 4)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Losing a baby in childbirth prompts Ursula Blanchard to return to her duties as special agent for Queen Elizabeth I, this time uncovering a plot to cast doubt on the queen's parentage. Nadia May's flawless diction and lively performance suit the lightweight story. May's always-perfect characterizations encompass royalty and an aging hag, loyal servants and scruffy children, smarmy nobles and star-crossed lovers, all with skill and insight. Her enthusiasm for the story keeps her energy high as Ursula and her cohorts battle murderers, swindlers, and the urgings of lust. As a stand-alone volume, or part of the Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court series, TO RUIN A QUEEN offers a entertaining fun. R.P.L. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Ursula Blanchard has been a "huntress" for Elizabeth I, searching out clandestine information for the crown. But now she's in France, despondent over the stillborn death of her son with her French husband, Mathew, and longing for Meg, the daughter of her first marriage. When she's brought under false pretenses back to England, however, she discovers that she's also despondent as a dependent wife. Elizabeth calls on her subject's huntress skills again, and Ursula rises to the occasion. The case involves Vetch castle; the family Mortimer, to which Ursula is distantly related; and hints of a plot to ruin the queen. What follows is an absorbing page-turner: there's a romantic ghost legend and accusations of witchcraft, Ursula's complicated relationships with her husband and with her retainer of many years, sodden nighttime journeys and star-crossed lovers of several generations, murder and suicide. Reunited with Meg, Ursula delays her return to France and to Mathew at the end, waiting for the plague to subside and leaving the door open for her next adventure. GraceAnne DeCandido
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