JANUARY 2021 - AudioFile
Whimsical, imaginative, and fast paced, this audiobook, narrated by Jane Copeland, is a must-listen. In 2016, preparations are underway at Windsor Castle for Queen Elizabeth's ninetieth birthday. Well-researched and full of details that blend fact and fiction, this is a quirky, entertaining story. When one of the Queen’s birthday guests is found dead, an investigation begins. In short order, the Queen believes that MI5 is looking in the wrong direction and takes matters into her own hands. With the help of her private secretary, Rozie Oshodi, she ensures that justice is served. With quick pacing and characters that are funny, smart, and charming, this mystery is an engaging listen. K.S.M. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
01/04/2021
British children’s author Bennett (The Look as Sophia Bennett) makes her adult debut with the delightful first in a series featuring Queen Elizabeth II as sleuth. One day in the spring of 2016, the queen is hosting a gathering at Windsor Castle when a young Russian pianist is found dead in a guest bedroom. First ruled a suicide, the death turns out to be murder, and MI5 suspects it’s an inside job by a sleeper agent planted at Windsor by Vladimir Putin. But when the authorities begin questioning the queen’s staff, Her Majesty, whose loyalty to her people is as deep as theirs is to her, decides to conduct her own discreet investigation with the help of her assistant private secretary, Rozie Oshodi. Rozie is impressed with the queen’s keen observations, as well as HM’s ability to plant ideas and steer the investigation without anyone the wiser. As Rozie learns, the queen has had lots of practice. She’s been quietly solving mysteries for decades. Bennett’s depiction of the warm, wise, and witty queen and the insights into her royal life are fascinating. Fans of Netflix’s The Crown will have fun. Agent: Grainne Fox, Fletcher & Co. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
Sheer entertainment… Bennett infuses wit and an arch sensibility into her prose… This is not mere froth, it is pure confection.” — New York Times Book Review
“A veritable love letter to England’s current monarch… a triumph full of royal tidbits and international high jinks. The pivotal character of Rozie adds just the right note of modernity… Readers will be thrilled... Strongly recommended.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“The Queen shows a little Sherlock Holmes and a dash of George Smiley. She also charms the reader in all her scenes.” — Toronto Star
“Her Majesty, … unshockable and mystery-savvy, … uses her long but subtle reach, powers of observation, and decades (and decades!) of sizing up people to solve several crimes… Mystery readers—and royalists, of course—will enjoy their audience with QEII.” — Booklist
“SJ Bennett brilliantly sets up the Queen as detective… Our super-sleuth Queen unites sharp intuition and first-class memory with a lifetime of observation to outwit the police and MI5. She is Miss Marple with a crown.” — Daily Mirror (UK)
“[A] pitch-perfect murder mystery… If The Crown were crossed with Miss Marple…, the result would probably be something like this charming whodunnit.” — Ruth Ware
'Hilarious, affectionate, and so well observed... I loved it.' — Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat
"In this delightful and suspenseful whodunit, author SJ Bennett pulls off the prodigious feat of transforming Queen Elizabeth into an amateur detective. For those of us who love ‘The Crown’ but think it should have a little more murder in it, this is perfection. And hopefully the first of many." — Peter Swanson, author of Eight Perfect Murders
“The Windsor Knot boasts an intricate storyline, a large cast of intriguing characters—Rozie is particularly memorable—and a fascinating account of the workings of the monarchy. And it will delight mystery devotees and anglophiles alike with Bennett’s portrait of Elizabeth—wise and savvy, warm and sensitive.” — Free-Lance Star (Fredericksburg, VA)
“Bennett portrays the perceptive, resourceful Queen—her thought processes, intuitions and actions—with great wit and affection… A fast-moving, spirited and suspenseful plot. Readers will be enchanted by Bennett's inventive portrayal of a deeply engaging icon.” — Shelf Awareness
“The delightful first in a series featuring Queen Elizabeth II as sleuth… Bennett’s depiction of the warm, wise, and witty queen and the insights into her royal life are fascinating. Fans of Netflix’s The Crown will have fun.” — Publishers Weekly
“[An] amusingly decorous debut…the queen makes a wonderfully self-effacing sleuth.” — Kirkus Reviews
“A charming and intelligent entertainment in which the little old lady in a hat, so easy to underestimate, outwits the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard), MI5 (the secret squirrels), and various other security services… The plot is complex and suspenseful... The story is well paced, the resolution satisfying.” — American Spectator
“A must-read for fans of The Crown and Downtown Abbey. Grab a cup of tea and curl up to one of the best mysteries I have had the pleasure to read this year!” — Fresh Fiction
“This version of Her Majesty – shrewd, sensible and inquisitive – has much in common with Alan Bennett’s royal creation in The Uncommon Reader, and the resulting book, with its mixture of real and imagined characters, is charming...” — The Guardian (UK)
“Danger, intrigue, royal drama… This whodunit has it all… An imaginative and engaging ride for fans of mysteries and the royal family.” — Woman's World
“[A] warm and witty murder mystery … A delightful and respectful tribute to Windsor’s canniest – and most discreet – amateur sleuth.” — Woman&Home, Book of the Month selection (UK)
"Miss Marple meets The Crown" — The Bookseller (UK)
“The Queen is a super-sleuth… Heartwarming and entirely believable… This entertaining novel, written with wit and brio, will appeal to royalists and murder mystery lovers alike.” — Daily Express (UK)
“The quirkiest, funniest and most-needed crime novel of the year—do not miss.” — The Sun (UK)
Toronto Star
The Queen shows a little Sherlock Holmes and a dash of George Smiley. She also charms the reader in all her scenes.”
Joanne Harris
'Hilarious, affectionate, and so well observed... I loved it.'
Peter Swanson
"In this delightful and suspenseful whodunit, author SJ Bennett pulls off the prodigious feat of transforming Queen Elizabeth into an amateur detective. For those of us who love ‘The Crown’ but think it should have a little more murder in it, this is perfection. And hopefully the first of many."
New York Times Book Review
Sheer entertainment… Bennett infuses wit and an arch sensibility into her prose… This is not mere froth, it is pure confection.
Shelf Awareness
Bennett portrays the perceptive, resourceful Queen—her thought processes, intuitions and actions—with great wit and affection… A fast-moving, spirited and suspenseful plot. Readers will be enchanted by Bennett's inventive portrayal of a deeply engaging icon.”
Free-Lance Star (Fredericksburg
The Windsor Knot boasts an intricate storyline, a large cast of intriguing characters—Rozie is particularly memorable—and a fascinating account of the workings of the monarchy. And it will delight mystery devotees and anglophiles alike with Bennett’s portrait of Elizabeth—wise and savvy, warm and sensitive.
Ruth Ware
[A] pitch-perfect murder mystery… If The Crown were crossed with Miss Marple…, the result would probably be something like this charming whodunnit.
Daily Mirror (UK)
SJ Bennett brilliantly sets up the Queen as detective… Our super-sleuth Queen unites sharp intuition and first-class memory with a lifetime of observation to outwit the police and MI5. She is Miss Marple with a crown.
Booklist
Her Majesty, … unshockable and mystery-savvy, … uses her long but subtle reach, powers of observation, and decades (and decades!) of sizing up people to solve several crimes… Mystery readers—and royalists, of course—will enjoy their audience with QEII.
Booklist
Her Majesty, … unshockable and mystery-savvy, … uses her long but subtle reach, powers of observation, and decades (and decades!) of sizing up people to solve several crimes… Mystery readers—and royalists, of course—will enjoy their audience with QEII.
The Sun (UK)
The quirkiest, funniest and most-needed crime novel of the year—do not miss.
The Bookseller (UK)
"Miss Marple meets The Crown"
Daily Express (UK)
The Queen is a super-sleuth… Heartwarming and entirely believable… This entertaining novel, written with wit and brio, will appeal to royalists and murder mystery lovers alike.
Woman's World
Danger, intrigue, royal drama… This whodunit has it all… An imaginative and engaging ride for fans of mysteries and the royal family.
The Guardian (UK)
This version of Her Majesty – shrewd, sensible and inquisitive – has much in common with Alan Bennett’s royal creation in The Uncommon Reader, and the resulting book, with its mixture of real and imagined characters, is charming...
American Spectator
A charming and intelligent entertainment in which the little old lady in a hat, so easy to underestimate, outwits the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard), MI5 (the secret squirrels), and various other security services… The plot is complex and suspenseful... The story is well paced, the resolution satisfying.
Fresh Fiction
A must-read for fans of The Crown and Downtown Abbey. Grab a cup of tea and curl up to one of the best mysteries I have had the pleasure to read this year!
Book of the Month selection (UK) Woman&Home
[A] warm and witty murder mystery … A delightful and respectful tribute to Windsor’s canniest – and most discreet – amateur sleuth.
Library Journal
10/01/2020
In this first in a new series from British YA author Bennett, Queen Elizabeth II is appalled by the murder of a young Russian pianist at Windsor Castle and discreetly takes matters into her own hands when she decides that MI5's investigation is heading in the wrong direction. She's helped by her assistant private secretary, Rozie Oshodi, a British Nigerian who recently served in the Royal Horse Artillery. With a 75,000-copy first printing.
JANUARY 2021 - AudioFile
Whimsical, imaginative, and fast paced, this audiobook, narrated by Jane Copeland, is a must-listen. In 2016, preparations are underway at Windsor Castle for Queen Elizabeth's ninetieth birthday. Well-researched and full of details that blend fact and fiction, this is a quirky, entertaining story. When one of the Queen’s birthday guests is found dead, an investigation begins. In short order, the Queen believes that MI5 is looking in the wrong direction and takes matters into her own hands. With the help of her private secretary, Rozie Oshodi, she ensures that justice is served. With quick pacing and characters that are funny, smart, and charming, this mystery is an engaging listen. K.S.M. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2021-02-02
Firmly cushioned hell breaks loose when one of the guests at a Windsor Castle “dine and sleep” fails to survive the night in Bennett’s amusingly decorous debut.
Being Queen Elizabeth II is no bed of roses. The queen has to maintain a stiff upper lip during the most taxing moments, most of them evidently among her counselors. Windsor Castle, her favorite among her residences, is directly in the flight path of noisy commercial airliners. And now Maksim Brodsky, the pianist brought to her latest soiree by Russian oligarch Yuri Peyrovski and Masha Peyrovskaya, his beautiful wife, has died overnight. The potential scandal is compounded because shortly before the assembled company retired, the devilishly handsome Brodsky claimed dances with both distinguished architect Meredith Gostelow and the queen, and the manner of his demise strongly suggests autoerotic asphyxiation. Her Majesty is not amused. Nor does she believe the condescending assurance of Gavin Humphreys, the new head of MI5, that Brodsky’s death, which he’s certain is the latest in a series of humiliating assassinations of anti-Putin activists, has been perpetrated by a mole long lodged in the Windsor staff. But if Brodsky really was murdered, as a closer look at the forensics indicates, and the killer wasn’t one of the queen’s intimates, who was it? Since Elizabeth is in no position to do her own legwork, she enlists Rozie Oshodi, her Nigerian rookie assistant private secretary, to make discreet inquiries. But the crucial deductions are those of the 90-year-old monarch Rozie aptly calls “the Boss.”
The suspects are few and the mystery disappointing, but the queen makes a wonderfully self-effacing sleuth.
