A Rescue For A Queen (An Ursula Blanchard Elizabethan Mystery)
Ursula Blanchard, reluctant spy and loyal lady-in-waiting to her half sister, Queen Elizabeth I, returns in an new adventure steeped in personal and political intrigue. This time, the recently widowed Ursula travels to the Continent, escorting her ward to the Netherlands to meet a potential suitor. Of course, the queen’s wily spymaster, Sir William Cecil, is quick to get involved, commissioning Ursula to investigate suspicious Florentine banker Roberto Ridolfi, a relative of the would-be groom. As is usually the case, the specter of Elizabeth’s rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, hovers in the background, and Ursula’s old nemesis, Anne Percy, the exiled Countess of Northumberland, rears her spiteful head. Buckley leaves readers wondering as Ursula’s private life takes an unexpected turn that will most likely provide interesting complications in future installments. --Margaret Flanagan