"Her Majesty the Queen investigates"...the premise of this book that Queen Elizabeth II is not only the head of state of the United Kingdom but also a secret detective sounded interesting and fun to read. This is the first of SJ Bennett's crime series of stories that the Queen will be solving. In this story, a Russian guest attending a dinner party at Windsor Castle is found dead in his room the morning after, with a rope around his neck. Foul play is suspected when the knot that was tied on the rope is loose, suggesting that the incident was not an accident but perhaps murder..
It is clear SJ Bennett has done a lot of research and reading to capture a realistic view of the Queen's life in her royal duties and interactions with Prince Phillip, her household assistants and managers, as well as contacts at, for example, M15 and M16. The corgis also feature from time to time in the story too. The first few chapters started off well to introduce the Queen's role in solving the mysterious crime, and the story progressed by revealing new details along the way to add further pieces to the puzzle.
However, the story seemed quite muddled at times, in particular in the middle where lots of characters are introduced and it was difficult to follow what was happening. It didn't help that a number of side stories are also added to the mix - maybe as decoys? Together with this aspect, the story lacked pace and I didn't find it very engaging. It is also clear that while the Queen is meant to be the one solving the crime, she actually has to rely on her personal assistant, Rozie, to conduct additional investigation and research, as the Queen has obvious limitations being the head of the monarchy. With that realisation, the premise of the Queen solving the crime to be slightly different to what I thought.
I'm disappointed I didn't enjoy this book more, which I had a lot of hope for as it is quite a novel concept. As everyone is right now, I've recently caught up watching Season 4 of the Crown, so this book was in a way immersing myself into the life of the Queen and continuing that journey!
I know there will be another book in this detective series. I may give another story a go but this story was sadly flat for me.
It is clear SJ Bennett has done a lot of research and reading to capture a realistic view of the Queen's life in her royal duties and interactions with Prince Phillip, her household assistants and managers, as well as contacts at, for example, M15 and M16. The corgis also feature from time to time in the story too. The first few chapters started off well to introduce the Queen's role in solving the mysterious crime, and the story progressed by revealing new details along the way to add further pieces to the puzzle.
However, the story seemed quite muddled at times, in particular in the middle where lots of characters are introduced and it was difficult to follow what was happening. It didn't help that a number of side stories are also added to the mix - maybe as decoys? Together with this aspect, the story lacked pace and I didn't find it very engaging. It is also clear that while the Queen is meant to be the one solving the crime, she actually has to rely on her personal assistant, Rozie, to conduct additional investigation and research, as the Queen has obvious limitations being the head of the monarchy. With that realisation, the premise of the Queen solving the crime to be slightly different to what I thought.
I'm disappointed I didn't enjoy this book more, which I had a lot of hope for as it is quite a novel concept. As everyone is right now, I've recently caught up watching Season 4 of the Crown, so this book was in a way immersing myself into the life of the Queen and continuing that journey!
I know there will be another book in this detective series. I may give another story a go but this story was sadly flat for me.