Description (from cover):'1559. Elizabeth has been on the throne for six months, and life in England seems newly golden. But for the royal court, murder and betrayal are foretold in the stars...
Kate Haywood, the young queen's personal musician, has been keeping busy playing for a merry round of summer parties where famed astrologer Dr. John Dee and his fantastic horoscopes are all the rage. However, Elizabeth's favorite stargazer fails to predict the discovery of a skeleton in the queen's garden--and that the victim's identity will call his own innocence into question.
When the doctor's pupil is the victim of a second murder, the concerned queen enlists her trusted Kate to clear the accused killer of wrongdoing. But will the stars align to light Kate's path through a tangled thicket of treachery to save Elizabeth's prized astrologer and protect the queen from those who threaten her reign?'
My thoughts:
Here I am reading yet another book about the Tudors. I can't seem to help it. I love to hate them. I do like historical mysteries a lot and I really think that is what really drew me into this book. This is the third book in the Elizabethan Mystery series by this author and it was just okay. Nothing too exciting, but nothing too bad at the same time. I enjoyed the first book and the second one not so much. This one sort of fell in the middle of both of those. I like Kate's character, I just feel that this series doesn't really lend anything original to itself and I just feel like I am reading yet another mystery about the Tudors. It really doesn't have any oomph and nothing really draws me in except for the fact that I love historical mysteries.
In this one, the reader is introduced to Dr. John Dee. If you know anything about Elizabeth I, you will know that she highly respected and admired Dr. Dee for his advice and his knowledge in all things astrological. He was well-known for his horoscopes, so much in fact that Elizabeth usually consulted with him before making any big decisions during her reign. In this book, Dr. Dee's mentor disappeared years ago and when a skeleton is found in the queen's garden, it is suspected to be his body. Of course, when Dr. Dee's pupil ends up dead, it seems that someone has it out for him. Is this a personal vendetta against the Doctor or is there something more sinister at play here?
Like I've already stated, this book was just okay. It really didn't jump out and grab me into the storyline. It took me forever to get through this one, but I have been working late and I just fall asleep. The ending was just mediocre and I have to say that I was glad when it was over and I could finally read something else. I, of course, will state here that I will probably at some point be dissuaded from reading this series, but every single time I say that I read the next book in the series and the vicious cycle never ends. I do have to say that I am a very optimistic reader and hold out hope that the next will be earth shattering. That rarely ever happens, but that is besides the point.
Overall Rating: 3
Title: Murder in the Queen's Garden
Author: Amanda Carmack
Series: Elizabethan Mystery #3
Publisher: NAL
Publication Date: February 3, 2015
Pages: 304
Genre: Historical Mystery
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was purchased by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
