Perilous Alliance, A
-
- £2.99
-
- £2.99
Publisher Description
Widow Ursula Blanchard is urged to remarry for the sake of Queen and Country in this latest enthralling historical adventure
January, 1576. After three husbands, widow Ursula Blanchard has no desire to marry again. However, she is not in a position to refuse when Sir Francis Walsingham decides she must wed Count Gilbert Renard, the illegitimate son of King Henri II, in order to build a strategic alliance with the French.
When the Count arrives at her country home to pay court, Ursula’s misgivings grow stronger. Then one of her household staff is found dead at the bottom of the stairs. An accident – or something more sinister?
The disturbing chain of events that follows sees Ursula heading on a perilous journey in a race against time to prevent a national catastrophe. En route she will encounter danger, hardship, conspiracy – and murder.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
