The Scent of Danger

May 15, 2020
Ursula Blanchard, the widowed, illegitimate half-sister of Queen Elizabeth I, works for Sir Francis Walsingham, the royal spymaster. She recruits agents to keep tabs on possible political dangers to the Crown. When Ursula plans a visit to a relative in Devon, Walsingham asks her to check on two agents who are late in reporting. Once she arrives in the village of Zeal Aquatico, she discovers that both men have died mysteriously. Further inquiries lead her to believe that their deaths were not accidental. Were they related to an alleged Spanish plot to invade England? Her investigation soon provides evidence that someone in the village does not want Ursula to discover the truth. Ursula is a determined, intrepid sleuth, and her eighteenth case in the long-running series delivers another satisfying mix of mystery and Elizabethan history. Suggest Ursula's adventures to fans of Suzanne M. Wolfe's recent The Course of All Treasons (2019), starring another Elizabethan spy, Nicholas Holt.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)