On the eve of the Queen's 90th birthday, a special "dine and sleep" is held in Windsor Castle for members of the royal family and their select guests--and yes, this is really a thing. In this particular event (completely fictional), a young Russian pianist is discovered dead in his room under compromising circumstances. His death involves a badly tied knot following an evening of glittering performance, exquisite dancing, and seduction.
The Queen listens to the reports from her own staff, given with embarrassment at particular points, as well as from MI5, but she conducts her own investigation using her personal secretary, Rozie Oshodi, for some behind-the-scenes legwork. Rozie is a Briton of Nigerian descent, and her background in the Royal Horse Artillery (a military unit) along with her high heels and pencil skirts give her singular skills and camouflage in her investigations.
This is a highly entertaining mystery, because of some hilarious conversations involving the Queen and Prince Philip, a view into life at Windsor, commentary on world leaders and their relationships to dogs (a brutal assessment of Putin here), and special appearances by several well-known people including the Obamas. There are also some really touching scenes that bring humanity to the Queen.
The audio version is narrated beautifully by Jane Copland and will be available from Libro.fm Audiobooks (https://libro.fm/), when the book is published on March 9.
This is a gem--don't miss it!
Thanks to Libro.fm and HarperCollins for an advance copy.
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