Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths

As a junior editor at Bespoke Weddings magazine, Christine is thrilled when she is chosen to cover the supernova wedding of the year, that of Jane and Graham Beaufort, soon-to-be heirs to the massive and influential cosmetics company Glo. A trip to Ireland and a chance to prove to her boss that she can do the job is just what Christine needs to earn that senior editor title! But nearly from the moment she arrives at the gorgeous yet medieval Ballymoon Castle, something seems off. Some of the Beaufort family does not trust Jane, and none of them trusts one another. Matriarch Gloria Beaufort (known as G.B.), who hand-selected Christine to cover the wedding, reigns over the clan, but her grandson Graham, the groom, is clearly her favorite. On the day before the wedding, tragedy strikes, putting the nuptials at risk, but the family decides the show must go on. Enter a handsome bartender, suspicious minds, secret tunnels, and a missing murderer—along with Jane’s interesting past and family history—and this closed-castle mystery takes off. The Beaufort family has no idea what sort of lessons and payback G.B. has planned for them, but they will find out soon enough. Fans of haute couture and wedding culture will delight in this somewhat snarky take on wealth, celebrity, and the cosmetics industry.

When Queen Elizabeth II died this past September, some were grief-struck, others in shock, while many merely shrugged. I, however, had one thought: what would this mean for Bennett’s delightful Her Majesty the Queen Investigates series? I’m pleased to say that the third book is being released, set over the 2016/2017 holidays, picking up where the second book left off. Since it’s the holidays, the Queen and Prince Philip, along with family and hangers-on, are holed up for six weeks in Sandringham House on the Norfolk coast. As if there isn’t enough to worry about with Brexit and that new American president, a severed hand, wrapped in a plastic bag, washes up on a Norfolk beach. Its one identifying characteristic? A signet ring, although only the Queen recognizes it as belonging to the aristocratic St Cyr family. Between the lying media and the incompetent police, the Queen eventually launches her own investigation, along with the ever trustworthy Assistant Private Secretary Rozie Oshodi. While in previous books the Queen took a directive approach, here she is more actively involved in sussing out the murderer. Luckily for us, Bennett confirms that she plans to write more in the series “as there is still so much of her life to explore.”