In 1566, Elizabeth Tudor faces tremendous opposition from Parliament for ruling England without the help of a husband. Instead, she turns to her Privy Plot Council for help, only to discover from her royal herbalist that a woman has drowned in a tub of starch. Soon another garment worker meets the same rigid fate. Elizabeth becomes unbending in her attempts to solve the murders, as well as iron out the problems of her kingdom. But with her list of suspects growing - and firm evidence pointing to those she trusts the most - Elizabeth must hang the murderer out to dry or risk losing her reign…or her life.

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Product details

Listening Length	7 hours and 46 minutes
Author	Karen Harper
Narrator	Katherine Kellgren
Audible.com.au Release Date	05 December 2013
Publisher	Audible Studios
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B00NPBKXL2
Best Sellers Rank	236,884 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 1,876 in Traditional Detective Mysteries (Audible Books & Originals) 2,523 in Historical Mysteries (Audible Books & Originals) 5,356 in Women Sleuth Mysteries (Audible Books & Originals)

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gurenda

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 July 2015

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the stories are a bit far fetched, but extremely well written. Absorbing reading

Helen Musson

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 August 2017

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Brilliant!

annette savoie

good

Reviewed in Canada on 9 August 2015

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have other books by her ,good read

Bookphile

Excellent well!

Reviewed in the United States on 12 December 2007

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Once again, Harper has done it. She really excels at taking Queen Elizabeth I and making her flesh and blood. I've always enjoyed how she portrays the queen as strong-willed and yet vulnerable and how she doesn't try to gloss over the queen's rough edges. She has taken something of a one-dimensional historical figure and made her flesh and blood. I've long admired Elizabeth I and I'm very glad to see an author doing her such justice in portraying her as the complex human being she must have been.

As in the previous novels in the series, the peace of Elizabeth's kingdom is threatened by murder most foul. Harper does a nice job of juxtaposing the murder mystery with Elizabeth's fears of a northern uprising and the queen's constant worries over exactly how much of a threat Mary, Queen of Scots posed. I think this nicely shows how Elizabeth was concerned not only with the political in that she frets about the well-being of her country as a whole but also the personal in that she takes such an interest in her subjects.

Harper's other strength are her secondary characters. Those who have read the series have likely come to feel like Meg, Jenks, and Ned are friends and it is always welcome to read about the characters triumphs and to worry about their misfortunes. I felt the same sense of urgency Elizabeth felt when one of her favorites was placed in a position of grave danger.

As for the mystery itself, it is well-plotted and it is always intriguing to see how Harper uses period details to create innovative methods of executing a crime. This book's victim meets her end in the very vat in which she starches the highly fashionable ruffs that are helping her to earn her fortune. This is characteristic of Harper's writing in that the ends that the unfortunate victims meet provide a peek into the clever and diabolical minds of their killers.

Also admirable is the deft way in which Harper weaves the romances of secondary characters skillfully into the narrative to serve as emphasis of the lonely position that Elizabeth has chosen for herself. I've certainly always understood that Elizabeth's defiance when it came to the subject of marriage was certainly a political risk but it was Harper who made me begin to think of what a personal risk it must have been.

4 people found this helpful

Mary M. McCue

Fashioneably Entertaining

Reviewed in the United States on 3 February 2007

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Karen Harper, in her Queen Elizabeth series, expertly mixes history and her-story to entertain, delight -- and subtly highlight the very real and serious issues that faced the long-reigning English monarch. Issues within and without the kingdom beset her during her long reign; her adroit handling gave England a historic period of peace and prosperity. As towering a figure as Elizabeth is, I find myself drawn even more to the subcharacters who people each book. They're appealing, real and become friends, to care about and cheer for. I look forward to the next book in the series.

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The Fatal Fashione: Elizabeth I Mysteries, Book 8 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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