Book Review: All the Queen's Men by S. J. Bennett

All the Queen's Men
Author: S. J. Bennett
Series: Her Majesty the Queen Investigates (Book 2)
Publication: William Morrow (March 1, 2022)

Description: Amateur detective Queen Elizabeth II is back in this hugely entertaining follow-up to the bestseller The Windsor Knot, in which Her Majesty must determine how a missing painting is connected to the shocking death of a staff member inside Buckingham Palace.

At Buckingham Palace, the autumn of 2016 presages uncertain times. The Queen must deal with the fallout from the Brexit referendum, a new female prime minister, and a tumultuous election in the United States—yet these prove to be the least of her worries when a staff member is found dead beside the palace swimming pool. Is it truly the result of a tragic accident, as the police think, or is something more sinister going on?

Meanwhile, her assistant private secretary, Rozie Oshodi, is on the trail of a favorite painting that once hung outside the Queen’s bedroom and appears to have been misappropriated by the Royal Navy. And a series of disturbing anonymous letters have begun circulating in the palace. The Queen’s courtiers think they have it all ‘under control’, but Her Majesty is not so sure. After all, though the staff and public may not be aware, she is the keenest sleuth among them. Sometimes, it takes a Queen’s eye to see connections where no one else can.

My Thoughts: The second Queen Elizabeth II mystery starts when Her Majesty sees a painting that used to hang outside her bedroom on the wall at the Admiralty. She tasks her Assistant Private Secretary Rozie Oshodi to get it back and find out how it got there in the first place. 

The missing painting question leads to uncovering a scheme of fraud that began in the 1980s and has now led to two murders. The Queen's Private Secretary was going to use the palace pool one evening and discovers the body of one of the palace's housekeepers. At first it looks like a tragic accident, but when the women is shown to have ties to the fraud, the accident becomes a clever way to kill her. 

Her Majesty overhears a suspicious conversation while investigating an old wardrobe, but given she was inside the wardrobe when she heard it, she needs to find a less than direct method of passing on the information to the investigators. She does prefer not to seem directly involved in the investigation but finds subtle ways to take part.

This story takes place in the Fall of 2016 and lots of events are going on at the same time. Brexit, a multimillion-dollar refurbishment of Buckingham Palace, and the election of Donald Trump as the next United States president are all happening at the same time as this new investigation within the palace.

I enjoyed the insights into the workings of Buckingham Palace and into the mind of the Queen, but I don't think you have to be a fan of the British Royal Family to enjoy this story. The clues are slowly revealed and there was quite a bit of intrigue going on. 

Favorite Quote:

"Exactly. And I wonder how long we'll be playing the game of 'favorite murder methods of fellow staff.'"

Rozie eyed him reflectively. "You'd use a Walther PPK, obviously, in keeping with your Bond image."

"I wouldn't, actually. Barrel's too short; caliber's too low. You might as well just chuck it at your victim. Fleming was hopeless on guns. You'd do it with unarmed combat, no question."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.