Murder Most Royal

The HM The Queen Investigates series is one I love reading and I think it gets better with each book. The latest, Murder Most Royal, is my favourite so far, not least because I particularly enjoyed the setting of Sandringham House, and a royal Christmas with lots of family members around and the Queen enjoying a rest in peaceful surroundings.

Except in this series the Queen doesn't get much rest as she's once again involved in an investigation, with the help of her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie. When a hand washes up on a Norfolk beach, the Queen is quickly able to see that it, and the signet ring its wearing, once belonged to a man she knew, Edward St Cyr. A couple of other sinister local events leave the Queen wondering how they show more all fit together. The one thing we know is that the Queen will definitely get to the bottom of it all, being a champion mystery solver in this series (and maybe she was in real life too, who knows?!).

How it all fits together is quite intricate and plotted well. There's a charm and joy to it, and a cosy feel, and yet the crimes can be a bit grisly and the Queen has to display her oft-used grit, diplomacy and level-headed thinking to make it all fit together and to solve the mysteries. The author portrays her so well, juxtaposing perfectly the public face that we all knew with what she may have been like in private family settings.

This book is set in December 2016 and so Prince Philip is still a key character. I really loved the exchanges between the royal couple and I think this series is a lovely way of remembering them both. I also loved the way fact was woven together with fiction. I was very pleased to see book 4 will be published in February 2024. I'm already looking forward to A Death in Diamonds. show less

SJ Bennett has just released Murder Most Royal, the third book in the 'Her Majesty the Queen Investigates' series. I've read the previous two entries and have quite enjoyed them.

This third book takes place at Christmas 2016 at Queen Elizabeth's beloved Sandringham House. I love the details Bennett gives her physical settings. It lets me create vivid mental images, not just of Sandringham, but other settings that the book visits. And it's at one of those other locations that a severed hand, still wearing a signet ring, is found. It is the Queen who identifies the ring.

Now, the Queen is not the one physically investigating. But she is conducting a secret inquiry of her own alongside the formal investigation. She again employs her show more Assistant Private Secretary Rozie Oshodi, to be her eyes, ears and legs, reporting back only to her. This time around the Queen is doing more investigating herself than in the previous two books. She knows all of the family ties of her titled neighbours and uses that information to gently direct the constabulary.

I initially had concerns over how the Queen would be portrayed in that first book. Well, I didn't need to worry. She is drawn as kind, gracious, wise, highly intelligent, well-spoken, observant, but imposing as well. All quite true. Her inner dialogue is a treat to read and her sense of humor is dry, as are her observations about her Royal family. The relationship between the Queen And Prince Phillip is lovely and loving

Rozie brings her own take on things as well. Bennett weaves current events from 2016, such as Brexit, through the book.

The plotting is well done, giving a believable reason and victim by book's end. There are a number of characters to keep track of and more than once I had to stop and think who was who.

I quite enjoyed Murder Most Royal. It's a fun, clever read that could be considered cozy. But with corgis and no cats. :0) show less

The third of Bennett’s series has Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth investigating a mystery during the royal family’s traditional Christmas stay at Sandringham in 2016. What I enjoy most about the series is the portrayal of the Queen as a wise, intelligent woman with a down-to-earth understanding of modern life especially as it relates to her family. The plot and characters were credible, and the reader is able to determine what might possibly have been Her Majesty’s real opinions of other heads of state. Rozie, her Assistant Personal Secretary is an excellent character and in this book learns to enjoy wild swimming. Very enjoyable.

This is a very enjoyable mystery starring Queen Elizabeth II as the lead investigator—with an assist by her Assistant Personal Secretary, Rozie. Although this is the third entry in the series, it could be easily read and enjoyed as a standalone.

The story is set at Sandringham, where the queen is celebrating the Christmas holidays along with various members of the royal family.. Although the mystery is mildly interesting, it is the Queen and her assistant Rozie who steal the show. The Queen seems softer and more reflective than I remember from previous novels, and Rozie has settled into her job and seems calmer and more confident.

I enjoyed this much more than the previous volumes in this series. It is more of a cozy mystery, with most show more of the violence taking place “off screen.” Family relationships and memories play a critical role, which is even more poignant given the events of the recent past.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. show less

It is 2016 and the ninety-year-old queen is spending Christmas in Sandringham with her family. The holidays begin inauspiciously when both Her Majesty and Prince Philip come down with colds and the flu. It gets even worse when a girl finds a hand on a beach near the royal residence and the Queen recognizes the signet ring on the hand's finger.

Her Majesty calls on her Assistant Personal Secretary Rozie Oshodi to investigate what happened to Ned St. Cyr. The St. Cyrs have long been close to the Royal Family and Her Majesty recalls many happy times with them over the years though they have been seen less frequently in royal circles since the older generation of St. Cyrs passed away.

Adding to the disappearance of Ned is a hit-and-run show more accident which gravely injured Judy Raspberry who is a long-time neighbor and the treasurer of the local Women's Institute. She might have been investigating odd occurrences on the same beach where the hand was found. Adding also is the suicide of one of St. Cyr's elderly tenants which takes away one of Her Majesty's sources of information about long held secrets.

I enjoyed this fictional look inside the Royal Family. I liked the way the Queen inserts herself into the investigation while maintaining her distance. I liked the look back at the political events of 2016 with both Brexit and Trump taking place in the background of the Royal's Christmas.

Rozie Oshodi is a great character too with her loyalty to the Queen and skills as an investigator. show less

Another complex but satisfying murder mystery among the British royalty, this time near Queen Elizabeth’s holiday celebration at her beloved Sandringham. This series always has loads of characters to keep straight (which was difficult without the PDF companion) but the audiobook narration is sheer perfection and the resolution comes together nicely. The series is somewhat bittersweet now that the real royal “one” is no longer with us. Still, it’s fun to imagine her roaming the grounds in her head scarf and gently asking pointed questions to secretly solve a ghastly mystery.

This is the third in the series “Her Majesty the Queen Investigates” and I’ve read them all. (Ooh, I see #4 is to be published in February 2024). I give this one a solid 3 stars unlike the earlier two, which were better. And each can be read as a stand-alone. The series’ premise is that the Queen of England likes to solve mysteries, of which there always happens to be one nearby that she is curious about. She must be discreet in her investigation, so employs her trusted Assistant Private Secretary Rozie Oshodi to do her legwork. Rozie is clever, talented, and deferential, a wonderful character who gives the reader a bird’s eye view of employment in service to the Queen.

What I enjoy about the series is that the Queen is show more portrayed respectfully, and real-life characters are inserted considerately and realistically into the story every so often, so you never feel like you’re reading a gossip rag. Author S.J. Bennett recalls that the news of the Queen’s death in 2022 came the day she handed in the manuscript proofs for “Murder Most Royal,” which takes place in 2016. She says of writing about the Queen, “Much of what I want to say about her character, her role in our lives, and her impact on our world is here in these stories. Readers know how fond of the Queen I am. She was human and humble, but also undeniably great. We know her dedication to her life of public service.”

The episode in this novel takes place during the 2016 Christmas holiday, when the Queen and family are celebrating at the Queen’s Sandringham estate. Evidence that an aristocrat may have been murdered nearby sets the Queen to investigating – Who was the murderer? Where is the body? What unsavory family secrets are being concealed? While she wants to stay out of the spotlight, this story has the Queen actually doing some investigating, unlike the last two novels, when Rozie took a more active role in searching for the truth. I think having Rozie in the primary investigative role provides more entertainment for the reader, so I’m hopeful that the fourth installment returns to that format.

Nonetheless, I agree with author Ruth Ware, who says of the series, “If The Crown were crossed with Miss Marple, the result would probably be something like this charming whodunnit.” show less