Face Down Below the Banqueting House

"Face Down Below the Banqueting House" is the eighth mystery in the Lady Appleton Mystery series. Lady Susanna Appleton is a widowed (but still quite young) gentlewoman who dabbles in herbalism and sleuthing. This story is set in the summer of 1573. Lady Appleton's household, Leigh Abbey, is in a state of excitement at the possibility of being visited as part of the Queen's Progress, a tour of the kingdom made by Queen Elizabeth. But when the Queen's man Brian Tymberley comes to Lady Appleton's estate to inspect the premises in advance of the Queen's visit, two men die in the same day in suspicious-looking falls. Lady Appleton and her lover Nick Baldwin, the local sheriff, investigae the deaths to determine if they are accidents or murders. In addition to the well-told mystery story, author Emerson skilfully weaves in lots of facts about everyday life in Elizabeth England. She thoughtfully includes a glossary at the front to explain some terms used in the book. By the way, a "banqueting house" is a special house used for enjoying dessert after the meal! I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery and the Elizabethan atmosphere of this book. I'm definitely going back to read the previous entries in this series.

This author knows her stuff. This is a historical mystery set in England in 1573, during the reign of Elizabeth I, and the reader is utterly transported to that time period. Emerson makes it easy on the reader by putting in a glossary of essential terms and a cast of characters, in which she notes who the real-life people were. Lady Appleton is the heroine of this series, and Emerson manages to put her in some tricky situations. First, the Queen is coming to visit. And while you might think this is a cause for celebration, for Lady Appleton it could spell disaster. A visit by the queen is a costly, the preparations are time-consuming, and it draws unwanted attention from an almost all-powerful monarch who can change, or even end, your life on a whim. And when a suspicious death occurs shortly before the queen is due to arrive, the pressure is on Lady Appleton to figure out exactly what happened. And quickly. I loved the huge amount of detail Emerson puts in this book about life in the Elizabethan era. It is absolutely fantastic. While she omits some of the unpleasantness of everyday life, she doesn't glamorize and make it unrealistic. The characters are affected by death, disease, and separation from loved ones. Their actions are dictated by their stations in life in this class-based society, and have to deal with all the prejudices thereof. The other think I liked a lot was, for lack of a better expression, as sense of impending doom. In this society, there was always someone else who had power of you and your actions. Lady Appleton is the widowed lady of the manor and has the power over her servants. But she has to worry about the Queen and her minions who might report back any grievance to her, the other local gentry, and the religious officials who have the ability to slander her name, defame her character, and demand punishment. Careful strategy, strong allies, and well-placed bribes are the key to a happy life in this book. Did I solve it? No, I was enjoying the mood too much to really suss it out. Will I read more? Definitely.

This novel continues the author's earlier works and is similar in style and content. There are two reasons for her novels, the first being to write excellent mysteries and the second to inform the reader of life in the Elizabethan age. This novel keeps the reader guessing until the end without any last-minute revelations that let the reader down. It shows how Lady Appleton uses her intuition and the accumulated facts to figure out the crime and perpetrator. It also places the reader in this earlier time and in a thoroughly entertaining way lets the reader learn of daily life then. I found every page of this novel to be worth reading; it's writing at its best.

...not with Lady Susanna on the case. Kathy Lynn Emerson is one of the few true masters of the "history mystery." I flew through this book, and lost three pounds. That's because I skipped lunch AND dinner. NYT bestseller Tess Gerritsen says "Lady Appleton is irresistible." Edgar nominee Julia Spencer-Fleming calls it "a honeyed comfit of murder, malice and manor houses. A must-read." This is a book that lives up to the advance billing, folks. Now, if she would spend but a bit more time with Sir Francis Drake and the sea dogs....