Set in 1585 at the court of Elizabeth 1 Nicholas Holt, spy and the younger brother of the Earl of Blackwell, is given the task of discovering the murderer of one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting. But this is just the start.
A very enjoyable well-written mystery and the story is certainly helped by its likeable characters. A good solid start to what I presume will be a series. Setting the scene of Elizabethan England well.
A Netalley Book ( )

I love reading anything that takes place in the Tudor era. Most novels now are featuring anything WWI and WWII and those eras are fine but it has been a while since I have been able to read one in the Tudor era."God's bollocks, girl! I'm freezing my tits off!" and the book starts!

The youngest lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth is found murdered and left on the high altar of the Chapel Royal in Whitehall Palace. There are always threats to Queen Elizabeth and she is wondering why this young woman has been murdered. She enlists the skills of Nicholas Holt to investigate the murder. Nicholas is a spy for the Queen and is able to use his skills in his investigation. He is also the owner of the The Black Sheep Tavern. Nick enlists the help of Eli, a Jewish doctor and his twin sister, Rivkah, and Kate, the owner of a brothel. Oh yes, I forgot to mention his hound, an Irish Wolfhound named Hector.

Then another lady in waiting is murdered and Nick finds himself in dangerous territory as the hunt for a killer deepens. Can Nick and his cohorts find the killer before there is another murder?

I enjoyed the style of Suzanne M. Wolfe's writing, the characters she portrays are so believable, I almost found myself in the streets of Bankside. The sights, sounds, and smells seemed to come off the pages of the book. An exciting murder mystery that I hope there are more of. ( )

I must admit that I enjoy books that take place in Elizabethan times. I haven’t read one in a bit so I was quite happy to find myself again walking the halls with this great queen. In A Murder by Any Name we find Elizabeth sitting comfortably on her throne but as she always did, dealing with threats to her rule from various factions. The plot that drives the story is all fiction as are most of the main players so anyone reading the tale can just read the book for the story. This is not a tale that involves historical events but rather a story that has a couple of historical personages within.

The newest of Elizabeth’s ladies in waiting is found murdered and the Queen calls in one her favorites to solve the crime. Nicholas Holt is one of her spies but he also has skills she respects. She instructs him to find out who has committed the murder before riots start blaming the wrong people for it.

As Nicholas starts digging another one of Elizabeth’s ladies is murdered and things get even more tense in London as people blame either the Jews or or the Catholics for the murders. Elizabeth tells him he’d better figure out whodunit or there will be hell to pay. Will he and his trusty hound be able to find the killer?

I don’t know if writing that I enjoyed this book is the correct thing to say for it is a murder mystery. It’s kind of rude to enjoy murder. But I did find the book to be a good read. The plot was intriguing, the characters quirky and engaging and the story moved right along. Elizabeth was more of an ancillary player to the fictional characters and that was actually a good thing in a way. She is such a known quantity that it was nice to be in her world but not have her be the center of it.

The book also delved into some of the social issues of the time which mirror some of the social issues of today. Interesting that – as they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. I found Ms. Wolfe’s writing style to be easy to read and one that brought Elizabeth’s court alive. From life in the castle to the denizens of the seedier parts of town, all were brought vividly alive as I read. I will look forward to further adventures from Nicholas and his large, furry sidekick. ( )

One of Queen Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting has been murdered and set on display. With the murderer throwing the palace into chaos, Queen Elizabeth brings in one of her famous spies, Nicholas Holt to quickly find the killer. However, the public feels that the Jews are to blame and when another murder follows, suspicions and fear quickly arise.

As a lover of all things Tudor, I couldn't resist a murder mystery set in Queen Elizabeth's court. I immediately enjoyed the way that Queen Elizabeth is portrayed by Suzanne M. Wolfe. This Elizabeth is authentic, using salty speech and acute intelligence, glamorous in style, but still very wary of threats surrounding her. Nicholas Holt and his companion, Hector the wolfhound are an amazing spy duo. Nick's skill set allows the reader into the many different sections of England. Nick is friends with Eli and Rivkah, Jewish doctors, setting the tone for the religious turmoil at the time and interviews many servants in Whitehall, exposing the many people and tasks they do to keep the castle running. Overall, this mystery kept me on my toes and included in-depth historical detail of the later parts of Queen Elizabeth's reign.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )