Saturday, October 14, 2017

Book review - "The Siren Queen" by Fiona Buckley


After the events of The Fugitive Queen, Ursula Blanchard de la Roche Stannard is still caught up in the conspiracies to put Mary Stuart on the throne of Scotland and eventually that of England as well. In The Siren Queen, Ursula and her current husband are contacted by the duke of Norfolk, wanting to betroth a young man in his employee to Ursula’s daughter Meg, who is not yet fourteen.  Ursula and Hugh decide to see what the duke has to offer. 

Ursula immediately dislikes the young man and plans to depart, but a messenger of the duke is stabbed as he is trying to deliver documents to the north.  Then another young man, a servant, is brutally murdered and hung up on a meat hook.  Like it nor not, Ursula is urged by Elizabeth’s Secretary of State Cecil Williams to find out why the men were killed.  She uncovers coded messages being passed between Norfolk and the conspirators with Mary. 

Thrown into this mix is Ursula’s woman Gladys, who, despite Ursula’s efforts to keep her clean and groomed, still manages to get accused of witchcraft.  Meg, being the sulky teenager, is in love with Edward Dean, the man Norfolk wants to betroth her to. 

As usual, Ursula engages in a lot of spying, eavesdropping and intercepting encoded messages to help Cecil get back in Elizabeth’s good graces.  She even has to speak to the Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley, one of the queen’s favorites.


The ending is a little predictable but it does have some exciting moments.  It isn’t on the level as The Fugitive Queen as intrigue, but The Siren Queen does have more of the whodunit element.

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