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Royal Gambit by Daniel O’Malley

I found it very hard to put down this supernatural thriller. Set in and around London, it features Alix, Lady Mondegreen, a Pawn in the Checquy Group. When Alix was six, she was found to have a unique supernatural power, and began instruction and training with the Checquy, a secret organization that investigates supernatural crimes and disturbances. Unusually, Alix still got to attend a private school with normal children, and became friends with Princess Louise. The British Royal Family in this novel are not the same as in our London.

Alix is stunned when she is named one of four ladies-in-waiting to Princess Louise. This unpaid position, while part-time, is usually permanent, and will make her work with the Checquy more difficult. I enjoyed the unusual combination here of descriptions of royal life, detecting crime, and the incredible stories made up to explain supernatural events, along with some humor, as well as several scenes with an adorable Australian quokka. There is some violence as well. While occasionally getting to wear glamorous gowns and, twice, a tiara, Alix frequently gets summoned from one of her jobs to the other just as she’s about to eat. Often, her very curly hair and clothes are a mess. There are some perks to the lady-in-waiting position, including a gorgeous pair of boots that attracts attention on social media.

If you like an occasionally humorous thriller with supernatural elements, or if you read or saw The Rook, the first Checquy novel, I think you’ll enjoy Royal Gambit.

Brenda

A Death in Diamonds by S. J. Bennett

This is the fourth Her Majesty The Queen Investigates mystery, but is set much earlier than the others, in 1957. The premise of this delightful British mystery series is that Queen Elizabeth II, with the assistance of her assistant private secretary, solves mysteries. She never takes any credit for her detective work, and doesn’t even share her secret with Prince Philip.

Joan McGraw is a typist at Buckingham Palace and is thrilled to fill in for the Queen’s assistant private secretary Fiona, who is out on sick leave. Joan had worked at Bletchley Park during the war, and speaks French and German. While the mystery she helps the Queen solve is completely fictional, the official events, travel, and gowns are based on fact, including an unexpected encounter with Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The Queen’s friendship with a famous author is also real. A sabotage plot is, however, made up.

The Queen has noticed several minor problems connected with her official travel, including a speech that goes missing. Is one of her staff making mistakes, perhaps deliberately? How will this affect her upcoming visit with Prince Philip to Canada and the United States? There will be televised speeches, including one in French and English, a first for the Queen. Her children Charles and Anne are still quite young, though Charles is soon to enroll at a boarding school.

While I enjoyed the palace scenes and the travels, this wasn’t my favorite of the four mysteries in the series. 1957 wasn’t a terribly happy year in Great Britain, and the crime, which involved a secret room, a stolen tiara, and a man of uncertain nationality, takes a long time to solve and casts suspicion on quite a few people. Joan is very clever, enjoys her time with the Queen, and figures out which member of the staff is betraying the Queen’s trust. I look forward to Queen Elizabeth’s next case.

Brenda