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bargainsleuth's review against another edition
5.0
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Oh, how I do love this cozy mystery series, which has the late Queen Elizabeth II helping her assistant private secretary, Rozie Oshodi, help solve murder mysteries. All three books have been set in 2016, and this mystery takes places surrounding the Christmas holidays at Sandringham. Why we in the U.S. had to wait almost a year for the release of the third volume is somewhat of a mystery, but I’m glad it’s finally here.
A severed hand with a signet ring washes up on shore, and somehow Rozie gets ahold of it and shows it to the queen. She, in turn, can identify it as 70-year-old Edward St Cyr, who used to play with the Prince of Wales when he was younger. However, even though it was easy to identify the victim from the signet ring and injury to the hand, finding the murderer is not so easy.
I’ve not read or seen any Miss Marple mysteries, but I am a great fan of Angela Lansbury’s Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, and I find a lot of similarities in how the queen poses her questions to Rozie to investigate and how Jessica conducts her business of solving murders, too.
Once again, I was bowled over by the whimsical exchanges between various members of the royal family. This time Ann and Charles have some great exchanges, and I like to think the late queen would have enjoyed this cozy series and the playful yet endearing portrayal of herself and her family. One doesn’t read these books for the intricacies of plot, but for the characterizations, and I for one, wonder about the future of the series. Given that the murder mystery wraps up in early 2017, there’s still plenty of time for Rozie and the queen to solve mysteries.
If you’re a royal family fan like me, or enjoy cozy mysteries, you’ll enjoy Murder Most Royal. The audio narration by Samantha Bond was top-notch, as usual. Highly recommend!
Oh, how I do love this cozy mystery series, which has the late Queen Elizabeth II helping her assistant private secretary, Rozie Oshodi, help solve murder mysteries. All three books have been set in 2016, and this mystery takes places surrounding the Christmas holidays at Sandringham. Why we in the U.S. had to wait almost a year for the release of the third volume is somewhat of a mystery, but I’m glad it’s finally here.
A severed hand with a signet ring washes up on shore, and somehow Rozie gets ahold of it and shows it to the queen. She, in turn, can identify it as 70-year-old Edward St Cyr, who used to play with the Prince of Wales when he was younger. However, even though it was easy to identify the victim from the signet ring and injury to the hand, finding the murderer is not so easy.
I’ve not read or seen any Miss Marple mysteries, but I am a great fan of Angela Lansbury’s Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, and I find a lot of similarities in how the queen poses her questions to Rozie to investigate and how Jessica conducts her business of solving murders, too.
Once again, I was bowled over by the whimsical exchanges between various members of the royal family. This time Ann and Charles have some great exchanges, and I like to think the late queen would have enjoyed this cozy series and the playful yet endearing portrayal of herself and her family. One doesn’t read these books for the intricacies of plot, but for the characterizations, and I for one, wonder about the future of the series. Given that the murder mystery wraps up in early 2017, there’s still plenty of time for Rozie and the queen to solve mysteries.
If you’re a royal family fan like me, or enjoy cozy mysteries, you’ll enjoy Murder Most Royal. The audio narration by Samantha Bond was top-notch, as usual. Highly recommend!
howeonearth's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
booksrockcal's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book combines two of my favorite reading passions- the royal family and mysteries. It is the third in the series involving 90 year old Queen Elizabeth and her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozis Oshoti, who behind the scenes investigate and suggest clues to the authorities actually running the investigations to help solve them. in this mystery it is Christmas 2016 and the Queen and Prince Phillip are fighting colds and feeling their ages but are happy to be in Sandringham to celebrate Christmas with their family. A severed human hand and a stash of drugs is found in the water near the royal estate and the queen identifies the hand due to the ring on one finger as belonging to a member of a local aristocratic family. As the police search for the body and try to find out what happened to the missing aristocrat, another body is found in the water and a community stalwart and older woman is nearly killed in a hit and run accident. The lead up to the ending is filled with twists and turns and insights by the Queen regarding her aristocratic neighbors, those who work on the estate, and the townspeople are provide context for the crime and a window into what the queen might be like more authentic than the crown. The author finished this book just as the real life queen died in 2022 and while she says she plans to write more contemporary novels featuring Rozie and Elizabeth, the next in the series features the queen sleuthing in the 1950s. For some unknown reason, the last book is not available in the United States. American publishers aware of the hit series the crown somehow think people won’t buy the book?? It’s a great series with engaging writing, satisfying endings, and great character development. i hope they change this.
rachnordgren's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
elisabeth_tarvin1_1's review against another edition
5.0
I did NOT expect the ending. Also love the LGBT+ community with Valentine. Also, some of the characters are super annoying the family has problems and Flora does a great job of keeping the family home.
sannekwakernaak's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
mrsreads1's review against another edition
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
tays_bookcorner's review against another edition
3.0
This was quite a cute little cozy crime read. The story didn’t grab me until almost right at the end and I think that was just because there were so many characters I struggled to remember who was who however I thoroughly enjoyed that the story was written from the Queens point of view. I enjoyed how realistic the story line was and how a lot of the royal family were mentioned, it felt like I had a real insight into their lives. This really was a true cozy crime with no insane plot twists, that being said I was surprised at who the culprit was as I had no idea throughout the book who it could possibly be and there was a bit of tension and build up to that point which was enjoyable.
taytayhilly's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25