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A tantalizing re-creation of Elizabethan life and manners told with intelligence and wit," raved Library Journal upon the publication of To Shield the Queen, the volume that introduced twenty-six-year-old Ursula Blanchard, Lady of the Presence Chamber to Queen Elizabeth I, and one of the most entrancing mystery heroines to come along in many a season.
Young Ursula knows it can be treacherous easing herself into the petty foibles at court, but now, having once saved the Virgin Queen from political disaster, she faces an even greater challenge. Sortie of Ursula's old acquaintances may be plotting to overthrow Elizabeth in favor of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the re-establishment of the Catholic faith. Ardent, some would say fanatical, believers will stop at nothing -- smuggling, counterfeiting, civil war, perhaps murder -- to further their cause. One of Elizabeth's spies is already dead and the clues to his death point in a troubling direction.
Most disturbing to Ursula is whether her old friends Ann and Leonard Mason could be mixed up in a treasonous plot against the Queen. There have been rumors that all is not as it should be with the Masons.
Secretary of state Sir William Cecil needs his own spy in the Mason home and Ursula is the obvious choice, She knows the family, she can justify her visit by helping to care for the Masons' five children, and she can perhaps use her newly acquired skill at lockpiching to uncover some surprising truths.
Torn between her devotion to Elizabeth, still a young woman like herself, and her longing to be reunited with her exiled Catholic husband, Matthew, in France, Ursula makes a difficult bargain that balances personal happiness against duty to Queen and country. Her journey takes her into dangerous territory eventually into the underground cells of the Tower of London itself Whatever happens, she will never again be quite as trusting or quite as secure.
- Sales Rank: #1475061 in Books
- Brand: Brand: Scribner
- Published on: 2006-11-07
- Released on: 2006-11-07
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.25" h x 1.20" w x 5.31" l, .70 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 368 pages
- Used Book in Good Condition
Amazon.com Review
The novel begins as Ursula Blanchard, waiting woman to Queen Elizabeth I, is having a lesson in picking locks under the watchful eye of her majesty's secretary of state. An unusual lesson indeed for a respectable woman of the court, but Blanchard is no ordinary lady in waiting. She does have the proper antecedents for her place, but an eye and an ear for suspicious dealings helps her to earn additional income. She is a spy, paid to seek out traitorous deeds. In The Doublet Affair, Lord Burleigh sends her to watch some erstwhile friends whose dealings have become more suspicious than keeping the odd Catholic priest under their roof. The plot is enriched by Ursula's own ambivalence about her role: not only does she have a fondness for the family under suspicion, she longs to leave court entirely to join her French husband.
The central mystery is an appropriate one for the period. There are the usual mysterious deaths as well as hints of treachery against the crown. Indeed, one of Fiona Buckley's strengths is her historical appreciation for the fact that Elizabeth, despite her longevity, was never completely secure on the throne; Catholic plots and other schemes of usurpation abounded. Buckley's weakness is her certainty (and Ursula's) that Elizabeth was gentler in religious persecution than her sister. Regardless, Buckley's imaginative sense of quotidian life in Elizabethan England is delightful, and the mystery reaches a satisfying conclusion--with Ursula's lock picks put to good use.
Fiona Buckley is a pseudonym for an established author venturing into historical whodunits. The Doublet Affair follows her first effort, To Shield the Queen. --K. Crouch
From Publishers Weekly
Elizabethan sleuth Ursula Blanchard returns in a worthy follow-up to To Shield the Queen (1997). Ursula, lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I, is the only female spy employed by the queen's right-hand man, William Cecil. A widow with a small daughter, she has been forced into a clandestine marriage with Catholic aristocrat Matthew de la Roche, who has escaped the Protestant Elizabeth's clutches and returned to France. Ursula is requested by the queen and Cecil to retire temporarily from court and to stay?and spy?at the home of Leonard and Ann Mason, who are suspected of harboring sympathies for the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots. Working undercover as a governess, Ursula seeks to gather information on a conspiracy that may involve a London clockmaker and the Masons' tutor. She is helped significantly by her married servants, Fern Dale and Roger Brockley, whose homespun wholesomeness provides a nice foil to the intrigues of the bluebloods who drive the tale. Witty and courageous, Ursula finds her life threatened but forges on, unraveling the conspiracy and, ultimately, making a fateful decision regarding her future. Once again, Buckley pens an intricate tale rich in period detail and vivid characters. Among writers of historical mysteries, she stands out for the attention and skill she brings not only to suspenseful plotting but to the setting that supports it.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"Kirkus Reviews"
Ursula is the essence of iron cloaked in velvet -- a heroine to reckon with.
"Kirkus Reviews" Ursula is the essence of iron cloaked in velvet -- a heroine to reckon with.
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
not so good.......
By Amazon Customer
I picked up this book because I had read the author's first book, To Shield the Queen. Although I found the heroine far too contemporary in thoughts and actions for the Elizabethan time period, I decided to give this second installment a try because I really like both mysteries and historical fiction. To Shield the Queen did a passable job at combining them both. The Doublet Affair did not.
First, although I can understand religious differences, especially during this particular era in English history, the author's obvious bias toward the Protestant faith becomes glaringly obvious. The "good guys" are all Protestant and the "bad guys" are all Catholic. It seemed improbable to me that all Catholic men and women of the sixteenth century were evil, bumbling idiots, or religious fanatics, while all Protestants were loyal, clever and far more reasonable in their approach to life and religion. Most people are a mixture of many qualities, both good and bad, and I'm sure this held true in the sixteenth century, as well.
Secondly, the pace of the plot was excrutiatingly slow. Despite the fact that Ursula was running here, there and everywhere, the plot didn't seem to mature at all as the book went on. I found my mind wandering again and again to the next book on my "yet to read" pile. Finally, I just skimmed toward the end.
Thirdly, Ursula is woefully inadequate at her job. She not only gets caught and outmanuevered for much of the book, she manages to get her servants shot at and captured through her naive and self-centered assumption that only she is a target for retribution.
Fourthly, CHOOSE ALREADY! Do you want to be married to the man or not? Her inability to commit to her second marriage is seriously annoying and seems obviously contrived to keep the way open for the next installment in this series.
All in all, this is NOT a series I would continue, nor would I recommend it to anyone else.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Five Stars
By Pam
Great deal
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
A pleasant read, with elements that puzzle.
By Adrienne Wilson
This is a good book, not great, but good. The main character, Ursula, is a sprited young woman who is a lady in waiting at court, a spy for the queen, a mother of a six year old girl, a widow due to a smallpox outbreak, and wife of a catholic traitor living in exile in France. All of these elments would seem to make her either far-fetched or highly entertaining. Yet, you'd be amazed at how quickly you will tire of her adventures. Her relationship with the queen is an odd mix of distant and inproper intimacy. Her initial assigment in spying is utterly vague to the point of confusion. So often we are wondering just what is she trying to ascertain. So much of the book is Ursula following hunches that the reader is left ignorant of. Subtle witty exchanges lose there fizzle because you don't know the underlying meaning. And regretfully you never will. Many of the characters in the novel are quite charming, though undeveloped, and enter and exit in the strangest and at times grusome ways. Others such as the daughter are never heard from at all ,yet there mere mention is supposed to pull at our heartstrings.
The author would have been better served by writing in 3rd person. Then leaving the reader in the dark in so many ways would have so much more excusable. Do not read this book if you are particular about the history in your historical fiction, at times Ursula is very 21st century. Her "atenna is alerted" at one point and a young boys face is described as being "marred by acne".
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