The Windsor Knot ⭑⭑⭑⭑
Genre: Mystery
US Publication: March 9, 2021
Print: 288 pages
Audio: 8 hours 5 minutes
Confetti Rating: 4 stars
REVIEW:
Well crumble my crumpets, that was cute!
Author S.J. Bennett has taken your standard, garden-variety, death-by-autoerotique-asphyxiation mystery and cranked it up a notch by having none other than Queen Elizabeth II play Nancy Drew to solve it. And what readers get are delightful exchanges like this one between Her Majesty and her hubs, Prince Philip:
“Lilibet, did you hear the man was nude?”
“Yes, actually, I did.”
“Strung up like a Tory MP. There’s a word for it. What is it? Auto-sex something?”
“Autoerotic asphyxiation,” the Queen said grimly. She had Googled it on her iPad.
“That’s the bugger.”
I mean, COME ON! If that doesn’t reel you in, how about this banter between them:
“Last thing you want is to be discovered in a royal palace with your goolies out.”
“Philip!”
“No, I mean it. No wonder everyone’s keeping it hush-hush. That, and protecting your fragile nerves.”
The Queen threw him a look. “They forget. I’ve lived through a world war, that Ferguson girl, and you in the navy.”
Zing!
Stroll on by if you're not at least chuckling at this point, because this is not the book for you then. It probably goes without saying that it helps if you're either a fan of the British Royal Family or cozy mysteries. (Or maybe it doesn’t because I just said it anyway???) As for me, I’m all-in on QEII and her clan, though I wouldn’t consider myself a whodunit mystery reader on the whole. Lilibet was the thread I needed to pull me through The Windsor Knot, and I sure had a heck of a lot of fun watching it unravel.
(Side note: The author, S.J. Bennett, saw this review earlier on Goodreads and commented, “Thank you so much for this review, Regina. You certainly brightened up my day.” How can you not love and appreciate that?!)
My thanks to Ms. Bennett and William Morrow / Scene of the Crime for providing my gifted advance readers copy via NetGalley.
PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:
The first book in a highly original and delightfully clever crime series in which Queen Elizabeth II secretly solves crimes while carrying out her royal duties.
It is the early spring of 2016 and Queen Elizabeth is at Windsor Castle in advance of her 90th birthday celebrations. But the preparations are interrupted when a guest is found dead in one of the Castle bedrooms. The scene suggests the young Russian pianist strangled himself, but a badly tied knot leads MI5 to suspect foul play was involved. The Queen leaves the investigation to the professionals—until their suspicions point them in the wrong direction.
Unhappy at the mishandling of the case and concerned for her staff’s morale, the monarch decides to discreetly take matters into her own hands. With help from her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshodi, a British Nigerian and recent officer in the Royal Horse Artillery, the Queen secretly begins making inquiries. As she carries out her royal duties with her usual aplomb, no one in the Royal Household, the government, or the public knows that the resolute Elizabeth will use her keen eye, quick mind, and steady nerve to bring a murderer to justice.
SJ Bennett captures Queen Elizabeth’s voice with skill, nuance, wit, and genuine charm in this imaginative and engaging mystery that portrays Her Majesty as she’s rarely seen: kind yet worldly, decisive, shrewd, and most importantly a great judge of character.