The Thorne Maze by Karen Harper

From the Publisher

The vibrant pageant of Elizabethan England comes to life in Karen Harper's fifth novel in her acclaimed Elizabeth I Mystery Series. Hailed as "extraordinary" by The Los Angeles Times, these historical mysteries beautifully blend fact and fiction as the young Queen Elizabeth Tudor becomes an amateur sleuth to save her court, crown, and kingdom.

Though summering in the lush countryside to escape the plague rampaging through London, the queen and her court cannot escape the reach of a multiple murderer who seems to disappear at will. In the gardens of Hampton Court, Elizabeth proudly shows a famed visiting lawyer her huge hornbeam maze. But the intricate labyrinth soon becomes a scene of horror as Elizabeth herself is attacked and the lawyer is murdered within its leafy dead ends.

The queen calls upon her small, select band of advisors to help her
ferret out the identity of the maze murderer. When the court must flee the encroaching Black Death, even the royal haven of Hatfield House with its charming knot garden holds terror.

Undaunted, the queen and her chief advisor, William Cecil, set a trap in the flooded thorn maze at Cecil's nearby estate. But even if they snare the ghostly murderer before he or she strikes again, will they unmask not only the villain but the person they love best in all the realm?

Publishers Weekly

Tudor England's answer to V. I. Warshawski, Elizabeth I, must as usual take on a murder case or two in Harper's fifth well-researched, intrigue-filled historical (after 2002's The Queene's Cure). The royal sleuth is surprised by a deadly assault in the Hampton Court maze one night after making an appointment to meet old flame Robin Dudley. Did the attacker mean to kill her, or was she mistaken for someone else? Disturbing clues suggest that someone near to the queen wants her dead. A confrontation in a highly unusual maze makes for a thrilling conclusion. Harper's portrait of the Virgin Queen as sleuth is illuminating, but readers familiar with Elizabethan history will spot the villain much too soon. (Feb. 28) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Queen Elizabeth also gets involved in maze murders (see C.L. Grace's A Maze of Murders and Catherine Aird's Amendment of Life, reviewed above) when several occur in her favorite gardens. Her usual band of helpers-from herbalist to principal adviser-look for the serial murderer. Another fine historical.

Kirkus Reviews

Two killers imperil the royal court in Harper's fifth Queen Elizabeth I mystery (The Queen's Cure, p. 144, etc.). The historical one is the Black Plague, cutting a swath through London, threatening the palace, and lending verisimilitude and tension to the tale of the human killer, also historically based. After a masque in which Elizabeth takes part, she arranges a late-night tryst with her beloved Robin Dudley, recently returned to court after a long absence. As she waits in the eponymous maze in her costume for the masque, an unknown figure attempts to strangle her with a pair of the special stockings used by the masquers. When the would-be murderer abruptly stops the assault and flees, speculation rises that Elizabeth was mistaken for the true target. The use of the stockings narrows the field of likely suspects (and upcoming victims) to the other nine young members of the court who participated in the masque. Suspicion falls most heavily on Lady Bettina, a newish member of the court, because she's been acting secretive-and because she's the one who found the prone queen. For her part, Elizabeth hopes the guilty party is foppish Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, who, readers may remember, will go on to marry Elizabeth's rival, Mary of Scotland. Both the plague and the maze claim more victims before Elizabeth lays a successful trap for the killer. The fitting finale shows the Queen matching both wits and stamina with her nemesis. The conventional whodunit would have benefited from sharper characters, but Harper as usual supplies brisk, energetic writing and terrific historical color.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents