Murder
in the Queen’s Wardrobe: An Elizabeth Spy Thriller. Jmistress Jaffrey Mystery. Kathy
Lynn Emerson. Severn House. March 2015. 256 pp. ISBN#: 9780727884596.
Mistress Rosamond Jaffrey is married
but separated from her husband and living independently. She is wealthy, educated and intelligent as
well. While she has no problem filling
her days, she is now drawn into the service of Queen Elizabeth’s cousin, Lady Mary,
in London in the year 1582. However,
she’s not there to be a semi-servant to Lady Mary but to be a spy for the
Queen’s chief spymaster, Sir Frances Walsingham, a man who knows everyone’s
business and shares his knowledge sparingly if at all. Now Rosamond is to be his ears and listen to
the gossip of Lady Mary and her ladies in waiting, Rosamond is not sure what she is to hear, but
it doesn’t take long to realize that it seems someone is trying to arrange the
marriage of Lady Mary to the Tsar of Russia, Ivan the Terrible, a tyrant whom all
fear and few trust.
The mystery deepens when several
murderous attempts fall on first Lady Mary and then on Rosamond herself. Lady Mary is believed to have succumbed to a
dreaded disease when in fact she is the victim of poison. On it goes with events conspiring against
Rosamond that look like accidents but occur too frequently to be coincidence.
In the meantime, Rosamond’s husband,
who is living in Russia supposedly doing busy with a Muscovy merchant company,
has been distracted by the widow of an Englishman who was executed as a traitor. The Tsar will not let this woman return to
England and so she lives in dire poverty and miserable conditions. Soon Rosamond’s husband is feeling more than
pity for this young, attractive woman and he will bear some very harsh
consequences for his attendance upon this woman and his plan to free her to
return to England.
Rosamond at first has to mentally
explore who could be responsible for attempting to harm Lady Mary and why they
are trying to make sure a marriage and alliance with the Tsar never comes to
pass. As in any well-thought out mystery, each character has some flaw,
weakness or political connection that could provide a motive for a plot to harm
the Queen’s cousin. Rosamond herself is
betrayed a few times and has to come up with some very rapid reasons for
explaining her presence as a lady-in-waiting to Lady Mary.
All in all, Rosamond is a clever,
ingenious sleuth who keeps the reader guessing on every page and flipping the
pages to relish each engaging misunderstanding, attack, clue-ridden occasional
dialogue, and violent scenes occurring to Rosamond and her husband Rob. A splendid read that is highly recommended
for all lovers of well-crafted mystery fiction.
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