Ursula Blanchard

The year is 1560. The setting is the court of Queen Elizabeth. Ursula Blanchard, an impoverished young widow newly come to court, is sent to protect the queen's reputation by looking after Amy Robsart, wife of Sir Robert Dudley, courtier to the queen and prime subject of scandalous rumors swirling about the palace. When Amy is found lying with a broken neck at the bottom of a staircase, the future looks ominous for everyone involved.

In To Shield the Queen, we were introduced to Ursula Blanchard, lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I and one of the most entrancing mystery heroines to come along in many a season. Having once saved the Virgin Queen from political disaster, now young Ursula faces an even greater challenge. Some of her old acquaintances may be plotting to overthrow Elizabeth in favor of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the re-establishment of the Catholic faith. Secretary of State Sir William Cecil needs a spy in the Mason home, and Ursula is the obvious choice. Torn between her devotion to Elizabeth and her longing to be reunited with her exiled Catholic husband in France, Ursula makes a difficult bargain that balances personal happiness against duty to Queen and country. Her journey takes her into dangerous territory, and whatever happens, she will never again be quite as trusting or secure.

Ursula Blanchard has a mandate from the secretary of state to spy on behalf of Queen Elizabeth I. Ursula now must travel to France, where civil war may break out at any moment. The mission to mediate peace between warring Protestant and Catholic factions seems clear, but there are hidden forces at work. Whom can Ursula trust? What will happen to her daughter if she fails?

As the adventures of Ursula Blanchard, secret agent for Queen Elizabeth I, continue, she finds herself in France reunited with her husband, Matthew de la Roche, in a passionate but flawed relationship. But when Ursula learns that her daughter Meg has mysteriously disappeared, she immediately sets out on a frantic and dangerous search. The trail leads back to England, to Vetch Castle, an eerie keep owned by the enigmatic Philip Mortimer.

February, 1571. Ursula is once more plunged into affairs of the state when she escorts her foster daughter Margaret to the Netherlands to meet her suitor. The queen's spymaster, Sir William Cecil, learns that the wealthy Italian banker Roberto Ridolfi will be hosting their forthcoming wedding - a man who he fears may once again be plotting to put Mary Queen of Scots on the English throne. But Ursula is also about to come face-to-face with her greatest enemy - and the exiled Countess of Northumberland is not the only figure from Ursula's past to put in a surprising appearance.

Ursula's visit to her Devon relatives leads to murder, mayhem, and a possible plot to free Mary, Queen of Scots, in the latest Ursula Blanchard Tudor mystery. February, 1586. When the queen's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, learns that Ursula is to visit her relatives in Devon, he asks her to find out what has happened to two of his local agents, who have been strangely silent recently. On arrival in the small Devon village of Zeal Aquatio, Ursula discovers that both spies in question have met with mysterious-and fatal-accidents. Or is there more to it than that? What did the two spies find out that got them killed? Is there any truth to the rumors that King Philip of Spain, in league with the queen's cousin, Mary Stuart, intends to launch an invasion from the south coast? As Ursula pursues her investigations, it becomes clear that someone in Zeal Aquatio is determined to stop her finding out the truth ... whatever it takes.