The Heir
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Destined for a life beyond her wildest dreams, born fifth in succession to the throne, and determined to get to the bottom of a most foul puzzle. The future queen becomes a rebellious sleuth when she vows to solve the mystery of a dead man scandalously discovered on the grounds of Kensington Palace—by her.
The young Victoria remembers nothing but Kensington Palace. Arriving as a baby, she has been brought up inside its musty, mold-ridden walls. Others may see the value of Kensington’s priceless artifacts and objets d’art, but the palace is a jail cell for young Victoria. Raised with an incredibly strict regimen to follow, watched at all times by her mother, the controlling, German-born Victoire, and Victoire’s prized advisor, the power-hungry Sir John Conroy, the bright 15-year-old is allowed no freedom at any time—except that which she steals or wheedles for, always in the company of Conroy’s resentful daughter, Jane.
But one fateful afternoon, Victoria slips away from her mother to ride out on her beloved gelding, Prince. With reluctant Jane in tow, the princess gallops out from the palace green. But what would normally be an uneventful trot around very familiar terrain presents the mutinous princess with a most bewildering sight—a dead man, and on the grounds of the palace, no less.
Determined to get to the bottom of the inscrutable puzzle, young Victoria is met with shocking disrespect and any number of obstacles. Sir John lies to her, her uncles and aunts join with her mother to stonewall her questions and curtail her movements. But Victoria will not be deterred. With Jane Conroy as a tentative and untrustworthy ally, Victoria’s first “case” is underway . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wilde (the Rosalind Thorne mysteries) delivers a middling series launch about the exploits of a 16-year-old, pre-throne Queen Victoria. The novel opens with the death of Victoria's father, Prince Edward, and her subsequent cloistered existence at Kensington Palace, where her every move is monitored by her mother, Victoire, and her late father's assistant, Sir John Conroy. Victoria's official—and often unwilling—companion is Conroy's daughter, Jane. The pair are out riding one afternoon when they happen upon a dead man on the palace green. Victoria reports the discovery to her mother and Conroy, who are quick to explain it away as nothing more than a teenager's overactive imagination. Victoria enlists Jane's help in uncovering who the man was, what he was doing on the palace grounds, and why their parents are so intent on brushing the situation under the rug. At first, the young sleuths' exploits call to mind adventurous children's classics like The Secret Garden, but Wilde's uneasy blend of melodrama and mystery never quite gels, and many readers will be left wondering why she chose to center the story on a young Victoria. This is diverting enough, but it never takes flight.
