The vibrant pageant of Elizabethan England comes to life in Karen
Harper's fifth novel in her acclaimed Elizabeth I Mystery Series. Hailed
as "extraordinary" by The Los Angeles Times, these historical
mysteries beautifully blend fact and fiction as the young Queen
Elizabeth Tudor becomes an amateur sleuth to save her court, crown, and
kingdom.
Though summering in the lush countryside to escape the plague rampaging
through London, the queen and her court cannot escape the reach of a
multiple murderer who seems to disappear at will. In the gardens of
Hampton Court, Elizabeth proudly shows a famed visiting lawyer her huge
hornbeam maze. But the intricate labyrinth soon becomes a scene of
horror as Elizabeth herself is attacked and the lawyer is murdered
within its leafy dead ends. The queen calls upon her small, select band
of advisors to help her ferret out the identity of the maze murderer.
When the court must flee the encroaching Black Death, even the royal
haven of Hatfield House with its charming knot garden holds terror.
Undaunted, the queen and her chief advisor, William Cecil, set a trap in
the flooded thorn maze at Cecil's nearby estate. But even if they snare
the ghostly murderer before he or she strikes again, will they unmask
not only the villain but the person they love best in all the realm?
