Forest of Secrets

by Fiona Buckley

Overview

Ursula travels deep into the New Forest to investigate rumours of a plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth in this gripping Tudor mystery.

May, 1586. Ursula and her retinue return home from a lengthy trip to discover she has an unexpected visitor. Etheldreda Hope is a simple countrywoman who has come to Ursula with disturbing tales of strange goings-on in her rural village. Fearing that Etheldreda's reports of mysterious forest rites indicate a possible conspiracy to overthrow Queen Elizabeth in favour of her cousin, Mary Stuart, the queen's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, orders Ursula to travel to Etheldreda's home to find out what's really going on.

On reaching Chenston village, deep in the New Forest, Ursula discovers an isolated, suspicious community; the locals deeply in thrall to the old pagan traditions and beliefs. But are these ancient customs harmless - or are they part of a genuine conspiracy against the queen? And, if so, who is behind it?

It's not until the night of Halloween that Ursula will discover the shocking truth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781448306138
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	01/27/2022
Series:	An Ursula Blanchard mystery , #19
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.55(w) x 8.74(h) x (d)

About the Author

Fiona Buckley is the author of eighteen previous Ursula Blanchard mysteries, and a historical saga, Late Harvest. Under her real name, Valerie Anand, she is the author of numerous historical novels, including the much-loved Bridges Over Time series. Brought up in London, she now lives in Surrey.

Editorial Reviews

Atmospheric … Buckley makes full use of a fascinating time and place in British history - Publishers Weekly

A satisfying mix of mystery, history, and a touch of romance - Booklist

From the Publisher

Ursula is a determined, intrepid sleuth ... Another satisfying mix of mystery and Elizabethan history

Booklist on The Scent of Danger

05/10/2021

Early in Buckley’s atmospheric 19th Tudor mystery (after 2020’s The Scent of Danger), Ursula Blanchard, a prosperous widow and half-sister to Elizabeth I, receives a strange visitor at her Surrey home. Etheldreda Hope has come from the village of Chenston, where her mule giving birth to a foal is arousing her neighbors’ fears that she’s a witch. Even more worrying, Etheldreda reports that secret rites are being committed in the forest outside Chenston, and the group’s unknown leader says they must “bring about the death of an evil queen, to save an honest queen.” Since Ursula works as an agent on Elizabeth’s behalf, off to Chenston she must go. There she finds the villagers in thrall to odd beliefs and pagan practices, but do these have anything to do with a conspiracy to put Mary, Queen of Scots, the queen’s rival, on the throne? The well-defined secondary characters who accompany Ursula add to the intrigue, notably her resourceful manservant, Roger Brockley, who’s determined to protect her from the dangers they encounter, but sometimes fails to do so. Only a flat and abrupt ending disappoints. Buckley makes full use of a fascinating time and place in British history. Agent: David Grossman, David Grossman Literary (U.K.). (June)

Publishers Weekly

2021-03-31
A half sister to Queen Elizabeth I continues her life of deceit and danger.

Upon her return home from her latest adventure in 1586, Ursula Stannard is confronted by an unwanted visitor. Etheldreda Hope is afraid to return to her own village of Chenston in the New Forest, whose native inhabitants have treated her as a witch ever since her mule gave birth to a filly. Etheldreda’s account of strange goings-on in the woods, where the leader of the strange pagan rites—a man with antlers—has been speaking against an unnamed evil queen, brings Ursula to immediate attention. After consulting with Elizabeth’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, she departs with her loyal servants, Brockley and Dale, for the estate of Sir Henry Compton, near Chenston. Also with her is Mildred, a young woman recovering from a disastrous love affair. The village of Chenston is certainly odd, and its geographical isolation has kept its population inbred. The minister, Daniel Atbrigge, is little help, but he and the susceptible Mildred are instantly attracted to each other. When Brockley is taken ill, Ursula spies on a midnight meeting and is horrified to see villagers wearing masks and the horned leader sacrificing a goat and lying with a village virgin. After she reluctantly agrees to let Mildred marry Atbrigge, the filly is stolen, and only Brockley’s quick action on Lammas Eve saves the horse from becoming the next sacrifice. Despite the dangers, Ursula must continue to seek out any possible danger to the queen while Walsingham plots Mary Stuart’s downfall.

Pagan rituals combine with a thorny mystery and the ongoing adventures of the franchise mainstays.

Kirkus Reviews