Queen's Ransom

I have enjoyed all of Fiona Buckley books (Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court series).

Fiona Buckley's third Ursula Blanchard/de la Roche mystery was a facinating read. The plot was complex, realistic, imaginative,smart, and VERY well-written. I found Ursula to be both a femanist and one overtaken by femanine emotions, a devious antogonist and angelic protagonist, a sage soul in desperate need of guidance. There were parts of this book in which I was laughing. At other parts, I felt like crying. I have perchased this book and urge any lover of a good historical mystery to do so also. The setting is vibrant and well-reasearched, the characters are well-written, the plot is realistic to a facinating degree, and the overall book is a true page-turner. Five stars isn't nearly enough to praise "A Queen's Ransom". Fiona Buckley is a true diva not only of historical mysteries, but of writing in general. She is a creative force to be reconned with.

I read this book over a three-day business trip and was very pleasantly surprised. If you like good historical work, this is definitely worth your time. It's literate, well-thought out, and exciting, with some good writing. I went back and read her first two books and found them equally fine. I do recommend you read them in order. In general, she's not Robert Crais or Jamie Harrison, but these books are definitely worth the time. My real rating would be about 4.5.

Fiona Buckley's third historical mystery featuring Ursula Blanchard, lady-in-waiting (and sometime spy) to Queen Elizabeth I, "Queen's Ransom," takes place in the 1560s, mostly in France where war is brewing between Catholics and Heugenots. Accompanying her dead husband's father to fetch his niece from the troubled land, Ursula is asked by Elizabeth to carry an offer of mediation to Catherine, Queen Mother and Regent of France. Though she dislikes her father-in-law, Luke Blanchard, who was against his son's marriage and has spurned his young granddaughter, Ursula agrees to go partly in hopes of seeing her second husband, a leader of the Catholic faction in France. Joined by love, separated by politics, their relationship has several times landed them on opposite sides of armed and clandestine engagements (in previous books). The tradition continues as Ursula soon realizes she is immersed in treachery, murder at her heels. Lively period intrigue supplies subplots as well as the main story; Ursula is quick and brave but also a woman of her times, and the setting is vivid, brutal and atmospheric even to the contrasting feel of the countryside between France and England.

In 1562, Elizabeth I is twenty-eight years old. She is about the same age as Ursula Blanchard, her Lady of the Presence Chamber. However, Ursula is a spy who has done things that deeply bother her conscience and eat at her soul. To cleanse herself, Ursula goes to France for a bit of needed respite. She accompanies the father of her first spouse, who plans to return home with his ward, the woman intended to wed his son.France is unsafe, as civil war between the Papists and the Huguenots is imminent. Just before she leaves for the continent, Ursula meets with her Royal Highness. Elizabeth gives Ursula a message to deliver to the French Queen Catherine de Medici. The English monarch offers to mediate between the two warring factions. Ursula is unaware that she is the bait to return a traitor to England. That person happens to be her spouse, loyal to Mary.QUEEN'S RANSOME, the third installment in the mysteries at the court of Queen Elizabeth I is a fantastic historical fiction novel filled with royal intrigue. Readers gain an insightful look at France on the brink of internal religious wars. Although clearly a product of her times, Ursula retains independence fed by her belief she can accomplish anything. Readers will fully relish the woman as she travels life,s path. Renowned for her characterizations, Fiona Buckley is a creative storyteller who makes the Elizabethan era fun to read about in her novels. Hariet Klausner