A Perilous Alliance

August 31, 2015
In Buckley’s riotous but initially labored 13th Elizabethan mystery (after 2014’s A Traitor’s Tears), foreign policy matters trigger the action, but the focus is on domestic relationships. Ursula Blanchard, a half-sister of Elizabeth I, refuses one offer of marriage, but cannot easily turn down another advocated by the queen herself. A servant’s death precipitates several members of Ursula’s household to pursue the prospective bridegroom, Gilbert Renard, a French count, and his companions to Dover on suspicions of murder and espionage. Complications abound due to impulsive decisions by several headstrong youths, requiring Ursula and her manservant, Brockley, to use their combined wits to get them all out of a life-threatening scrape. Though she’s an English lady of means, Ursula is beset by demands more typical of a single parent in the 21st century, including work commitments and whining loved ones. She also treats some staff members more like pals than employees. Still, series fans will enjoy the exciting plot twists.

April 8, 2013
An appealing heroine makes up for some choppy pacing in Buckley’s well-constructed 11th Tudor mystery (after 2012’s Queen’s Bounty). In 1571, Ursula Blanchard, half-sister to the queen, is planning a quiet country life after the death of her devoted husband of six years, Hugh Stannard. But Sir William Cecil, England’s secretary of state, wants her to undertake a dangerous mission on Elizabeth’s behalf. Ursula is to escort Margaret Emory, who of late has been a surrogate daughter to Ursula (whose grown daughter has left home), to the Netherlands to marry a well-to-do cattle farmer, Antonio van Weede, who’s half Italian and half Flemish. Antonio’s Catholicism recommends him highly to Margaret’s Catholic parents. Cecil wants Ursula to learn whatever she can about conspiracies against Elizabeth during her extended stay in the Low Countries. Ursula, a reluctant servant of the Crown, soon finds herself immersed in political intrigue. Buckley (the pen name of Valerie Anand) once again delivers a tale sure to please fans of Elizabethan historicals.

October 1, 2015

In her 13th outing (after Traitor's Tears), thrice-married Ursula is urged to wed again in order to build an alliance with France; along the way, she also has to ferret out a spy sharing too many secrets with the French and Spanish. Buckley's historical series remains charming and well researched. Ursula is fascinating, and the details regarding life in Elizabethan England are outstanding.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.