Murder at Westminster Abbey by Amanda Carmack - Review

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

Published: April 1, 2014

Number of pages: 286

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Series: An Elizabethan Mystery #2

Synopsis

1559. Elizabeth is about to be crowned queen of England and wants her personal musician Kate Haywood to prepare music for the festivities. New to London, Kate must learn the ways of city life…and once again school herself as a sleuth.

Life at the center of the new royal court is abuzz with ambition and gossip—very different from the quiet countryside, where Kate served Elizabeth during her exile. Making her way among the courtiers who vie for the new queen’s favor, Kate befriends Lady Mary Everley. Mary is very close to Elizabeth. With their red hair and pale skin, they even resemble each other—which makes Mary’s murder all the more chilling.

The celebrations go on despite the pall cast over them. But when another redhead is murdered, Kate uncovers a deadly web of motives lurking just beneath the polite court banter, and follows the trail of a killer whose grievance can only be answered with royal blood.

What did I think of this book

This was a great addition to this series. The more I read of this author the more I like her books. In this book we find Kate becoming friends with Lady Mary Everley but then she ends up murdered. This was not the first red-haired lady murder which has everyone wondering what is going on. So at the Queen's request she again starts to look to see if she can find some secrets to help solve the mystery of the murders. I was happy that we got to see Anthony and Rob again. As the stories go along you can see their relationships devlop. After the murder is solved we find out a big more about Kate's mother. I really liked that part of the book and thought was a great addition. Back to the murder - again the author had me guessing up until the end. For me I did not see any of the clues until the author wanted to start to reveal who it was. I also like how she uses real places as the settings of these books. I will be moving on to number three shortly. 

About the author:

Amanda McCabe wrote her first romance at the age of sixteen--a vast historical epic starring all her friends as the characters, written secretly during algebra class (and her parents wondered why math was not her strongest subject...)

She's never since used algebra, but her books (set in a variety of time periods--Regency, Victorian, Tudor, Renaissance, and 1920s) have been nominated for many awards, including the RITA Award, the Romantic Times BOOKReviews Reviewers' Choice Award, the Booksellers Best, the National Readers Choice Award, and the Holt Medallion. She lives in Oklahoma with a menagerie of two cats, a Pug, and a very bossy miniature Poodle, along with far too many books.

When not writing or reading, she loves yoga, collecting cheesy travel souvenirs, and watching the Food Network--even though she doesn't cook. She also writes as Laurel McKee and historical Elizabethan mysteries as Amanda Carmack....

Please visit her at http://ammandamccabe.com

Series:

#1 Murder at Hatfield House

#2 Murder at Westminster Abbey

#3 Murder in the Queen's Gardens

#3.5 Murder at the Queen's Masquerede

#4 Murder at Whitehall

#5 Murder at Fountainbleau