To Kill a Queen
A Novel
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- 12,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
Enter a shadowy world of crime in Elizabethan London with this twisty historical mystery featuring a queer sleuth and a dash of romance!
When Queen Elizabeth I is nearly assassinated, the rebellious heir to a criminal legacy seizes an opportunity for a better life.
London, 1579. In the treacherous alleyways of London, Jack has left behind the life of petty crime, hoping to atone for the past by rooting out murderers. As the eldest child of a notorious and infamous figure who controls the slums, Jack has no safe place to land and dreams of a future off the streets. When an attempt is made on the Queen’s life, it falls to Jack to catch the would-be assassin and fight for a different future.
With the help of a coroner, Damian; a sultry barmaid with a secret; and the criminal connections from Jack's past, the unlikely investigator dives into the case. But the former thief's informants keep turning up dead, and every lead seems to vanish just when it feels within reach. As Jack follows the trail deeper into danger, the question becomes: Who can truly be trusted?
With the promise of security and redemption hanging overhead, Jack must uncover who orchestrated the assassination attempt before time runs out in this historical mystery, perfect for fans of Tasha Alexander.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The bawdy criminal underworld of Elizabethan England provides a rich backdrop for this rewarding historical mystery from McNee (Regrettably, I Am About to Cause Trouble). Jack is the gender-fluid child of Axe, a ruthless master criminal. Desperate to make her own way, Jack breaks with her father and, dressed as a man, begins assisting London's justice of the peace and coroner in investigations. While gathering evidence to help condemn a wife killer, Jack learns that one of Queen Elizabeth's guards was shot and killed while standing close to the monarch on a river barge. With the city and court in an uproar, Jack sets out to help find the royal assassin. She soon finds that many people close to her—including her father, her best friend, and a barmaid she's befriending—are hiding secrets related to the case. The pace is brisk, the twists are well handled, and the historical details are transporting, though some of the dialogue feels wildly anachronistic ("The pope has no sex appeal," one character claims). For the most part, though, it's a rip-roaring good time.
