Jessica Fletcher, Miss Marple, Mrs Bradley, Nancy Drew and Queen Elizabeth II. What do these venerable women all have in common? They’re all exceptionally talented and prolific amateur sleuths, of course! That said, while the first four names are likely to be familiar to fans of the crime fiction genre, the criminological exploits of Her Maj have largely gone under the radar until now. It’s lucky, therefore, that S.J. Bennett has decided to pen a new series under the “Her Majesty the Queen Investigates” umbrella title.
The first book in the series, The Windsor Knot, opens with the Queen’s otherwise enjoyable stay at Windsor Castle being sullied by the news that a guest at the dinner party she hosted the night before (at the request of Prince Charles, but that’s heir apparents for one) has been found dead. The young man, Maksim Brodsky, had been a late addition to the party but had proved to be a delightful guest, playing the piano and then dancing the night away with a number of appreciative female guests. The Queen is initially simply sad to hear of his passing, but when she learns the full and decidedly sordid details of how he was found, she immediately realises that something is very wrong.
The interesting twist here is that, being the queen, she can’t just don a deerstalker and set off to investigate. Instead, she has to focus her little grey cells on the matter and then take steps to subtly prompt the police, officers from MI5/MI6 and members of her household to look at the right evidence and question the appropriate people. Where greater involvement/more concrete measures are needed, she has to rely on her new assistant private secretary, Rozie Oshodi, to do the legwork for her. Effectively, Rozie is the Archie Goodwin to the Queen’s Nero Wolfe, and the Queen proves to be just as reticent about sharing her ideas and workings out as Wolfe always did.
Bennett’s depiction of Elizabeth II manages to be both rather outlandish and oddly believable. While it seems unlikely that the Queen has been behind the solving of numerous crimes since she was a teenager, the detail with which The Windsor Knot is written does suggest that such a thing is possible. It’s made very clear that the Queen has to fit in her sleuthing amongst her various royal engagements and her seemingly never-ending paperwork and, further, that she is able to make the necessary mental leaps due to her amazing powers of observation and her highly varied life experiences. Amusingly, she’s able to get away with all the subtle influencing of folk due to the fact that people simultaneously underestimate and overestimate her royal personage.
And that’s not the only amusing aspect of the book either. In addition to some excellent observational humour, there are plenty of quips and witty one-liners to enjoy, and Prince Philip in particular proves to be good for some comical (non-offensive) banter. Bennett’s characters, both those based on real people and those who are wholly fictional, are generally very engaging, even the villains and those goodies who are intended to be rather buffoonish. Everyone plays their role well, and they all serve a purpose as the Queen does her best to unravel the real circumstances behind Maksim Brodsky’s death.
The Windsor Knot is an entertaining, intriguing and fairly gentle mystery novel. Having the Queen serve as the lead detective is a great idea, and the plot that she is tasked with unpicking is comprised of an admirable number of twists and turns.
The first book in the series, The Windsor Knot, opens with the Queen’s otherwise enjoyable stay at Windsor Castle being sullied by the news that a guest at the dinner party she hosted the night before (at the request of Prince Charles, but that’s heir apparents for one) has been found dead. The young man, Maksim Brodsky, had been a late addition to the party but had proved to be a delightful guest, playing the piano and then dancing the night away with a number of appreciative female guests. The Queen is initially simply sad to hear of his passing, but when she learns the full and decidedly sordid details of how he was found, she immediately realises that something is very wrong.
The interesting twist here is that, being the queen, she can’t just don a deerstalker and set off to investigate. Instead, she has to focus her little grey cells on the matter and then take steps to subtly prompt the police, officers from MI5/MI6 and members of her household to look at the right evidence and question the appropriate people. Where greater involvement/more concrete measures are needed, she has to rely on her new assistant private secretary, Rozie Oshodi, to do the legwork for her. Effectively, Rozie is the Archie Goodwin to the Queen’s Nero Wolfe, and the Queen proves to be just as reticent about sharing her ideas and workings out as Wolfe always did.
Bennett’s depiction of Elizabeth II manages to be both rather outlandish and oddly believable. While it seems unlikely that the Queen has been behind the solving of numerous crimes since she was a teenager, the detail with which The Windsor Knot is written does suggest that such a thing is possible. It’s made very clear that the Queen has to fit in her sleuthing amongst her various royal engagements and her seemingly never-ending paperwork and, further, that she is able to make the necessary mental leaps due to her amazing powers of observation and her highly varied life experiences. Amusingly, she’s able to get away with all the subtle influencing of folk due to the fact that people simultaneously underestimate and overestimate her royal personage.
And that’s not the only amusing aspect of the book either. In addition to some excellent observational humour, there are plenty of quips and witty one-liners to enjoy, and Prince Philip in particular proves to be good for some comical (non-offensive) banter. Bennett’s characters, both those based on real people and those who are wholly fictional, are generally very engaging, even the villains and those goodies who are intended to be rather buffoonish. Everyone plays their role well, and they all serve a purpose as the Queen does her best to unravel the real circumstances behind Maksim Brodsky’s death.
The Windsor Knot is an entertaining, intriguing and fairly gentle mystery novel. Having the Queen serve as the lead detective is a great idea, and the plot that she is tasked with unpicking is comprised of an admirable number of twists and turns.