This is the seventeenth book in the Ursula Stannard series of Elizabethan mysteries. As before, I love the regular characters whose lives I have been following over the last 14 years of my life (and I think about 22 of theirs, though I'm not entirely sure). I found the plot of the last novel, The Reluctant Assassin, implausible and I'm afraid I found this one equally so. The half brother of the conspirator Ursula exposed in that novel now wants to take revenge on her, by setting her up to commit a theft through a ruse entirely dependent on her making a foolish misjudgement, which she duly does, despite being adamantly opposed to the course of action leading up to this until the previous page. The other central villain was a more interestingly ambiguous character, though. ( )

England, 1582

The Spanish Armada has yet to haunt the English shores, yet Sir Francis Walsingham is keenly aware that Spain's King Philip, in his quarrel with Queen Elizabeth, is eager to conquer the fair British Isle and bring Liz to her knees. Spymaster Walsingham knows that the English Navy is not yet adequately fitted out to fight off Spain but if he could slip some false information Spain's way, then maybe Spain might think twice before launching an attack on Britain. He believes that a British ship merchant of Catholic persuasion has been slipping intel Prince Philip's way. Walsingham taps Ursula (the Queen's half-sister) to teach needlework skills to the merchant's two daughters and drop some false information into casual conversation about England's naval fleet developments. But on top of all that, a dead body is discovered just beyond Ursula's property, a church's stain glass window is smashed by a rock and someone's dowry chest has been stolen. How could so much happen all at once or are these events somehow related? Thus begins this cozy tale.

With this being the 17th book of the Ursula Blanchard Mysteries series, I wasn't certain whether I would feel hopelessly lost not having read its predecessors. What a kind author Fiona Buckley is to have provided sufficient background information on the longstanding characters to know how they all fit together. The reader is shepherded into the story and then let loose to follow Ursula on her latest mission. All in all, the book is well written; the characters are engaging; and the historic information on stain glass design and execution is fascinating. My only discomfort comes when Ursula, a respected and known to be bright woman makes an unwise choice of action, (and as it turns out, a poor choice). Yet, then again, the story must go on. It certainly was an enjoyable read and at some point, I will go back and catch up from the beginning of this series. ( )

Ursula beware!

August 1852. Once again Ursula Blanchard is thrust into a complex situation. I was caught up in the madness or intrepidness that is Ursula , half sister to Elizabeth I.
It might have been less complex if Ursula had not heard the wild geese.
Things seem to happen at once. Ill fatedness comes in threes!
Brockley's son Philip is found dead with a cross bolt through his chest.
A stained glass Judgement Window in the local church has been willfully smashed. (I found the idea of a Judgement Window, the depiction of Doomsday, fascinating BTW and I must admit to loving stained glass).
A bridal dowry chest has been stolen.
The local vicar, Dr Joynings had been talking to Ursula about the Judgement Window. He disliked it, "there’s too much blood and horror and it sometimes frightens young children …’"
Ursula decides that now is the time to commission a new church window, particularly as she also found the old one dark and sinister.
Ursula meets with Master Julius Stagg from Guildford, a designer and creator of stained glass, another merchant, John Hines who runs an old established business and a newly met at Greenwich, master classmaker from the city, named Tavener, in her search for the ideal craftsman to replace the window.
Meanwhile Francis Walsingham, the Queen's spymaster sends for Ursula with a mission that involves Giles Frost, her sea faring neighbor, whom Walsingham suspects of being in league with the Spanish. Ursula is to subtly spread rumors to Spain via Frost under the cover of teaching his daughters to embroider. (Frost's daughters have a need to learn the required gentle-womanly pursuits and practices).
I always feel that Ursula is trapped by Walsingham and her sister the Queen as surely as a fly on fly paper, "Walsingham sometimes made [her] shiver. [She] sometimes thought of him as a spider, waiting at the centre of a vast web. Waiting to pounce whenever an unwary fly … traitor … fell foul of its sticky threads."
That mission leaves Ursula trapped in the grim and dangerous position of being accused of wrongdoing. A factor that could lead to her death.
Tension as always was near to breaking point and the resolution a relief, with past actions brought to bear on Ursula's current situation.
As always Buckley provides insights into daily life and fears in Tudor times, which are both instructive and intriguing.

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley ( )