"The first book in a highly original and clever new crime series featuring Queen Elizabeth II as an amateur detective who solves crimes in secret and behind the scenes, in between her royal duties"-- - (Baker & Taylor)

The award-winning author of Love Song presents a crime series debut that finds 90-year-old Elizabeth II turning detective when MI5 bungles the murder case of a young Russian pianist at Windsor Castle. 75,000 first printing. - (Baker & Taylor)

“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] pitch-perfect murder mystery… If The Crown were crossed with Miss Marple…, the result would probably be something like this charming whodunnit.”  – Ruth Ware, author of One by One

The bestselling first book in a highly original and delightfully clever crime series in which Queen Elizabeth II secretly solves crimes while carrying out her royal duties.

It is the early spring of 2016 and Queen Elizabeth is at Windsor Castle in advance of her 90th birthday celebrations. But the preparations are interrupted by the shocking and untimely death of a guest in one of the Castle bedrooms. The scene leads some to think the young Russian pianist strangled himself, yet a badly tied knot leads MI5 to suspect foul play. When they begin to question the Household’s most loyal servants, Her Majesty knows they’re looking in the wrong place.

For the Queen has been living an extraordinary double life ever since her teenage years as “Lilibet.” Away from the public eye and unbeknownst to her closest friends and advisers, she has the most brilliant skill for solving crimes. With help from her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshodi, a British Nigerian officer recently appointed to the Royal Horse Artillery, the Queen discreetly begins making inquiries. As she carries out her royal duties with her usual aplomb, no one in the Royal Household, the government, or the public knows that the resolute Elizabeth won’t hesitate to use her keen eye, quick mind, and steady nerve to bring a murderer to justice.

SJ Bennett captures Queen Elizabeth’s voice with skill, nuance, wit, and genuine charm in this imaginative and engaging mystery that portrays Her Majesty as she’s rarely seen: kind yet worldly, decisive, shrewd, and, most important, a superb judge of character.

Booklist Reviews

It seemed like a pleasant enough soiree at Windsor Castle, but the next morning a charming young Russian is found dead in his room there, seemingly from autoerotic asphyxiation. The queen's couriers are naturally reluctant to share the sordid details with Her Majesty, but little do they understand how unshockable and mystery-savvy their sovereign is. With the help of one of her secretaries, a part of her inner work circle, Queen Elizabeth II uses her long but subtle reach, powers of observation, and decades (and decades!) of sizing up people to solve several crimes. Set in 2016, as the queen's ninetieth birthday approaches, Bennett's mystery does a good job of presenting an Elizabeth that is somewhere between the genteel dowager familiar to generations and the feistier version seen on The Crown. Her Majesty's sleuthing partner is Rozie Oshodi, whose family is originally from Nigeria. Rozie's backstory and how she became a part of the queen's service juxtaposes well against the royal trappings. The first in a series, this sometimes tells more than it shows, but mystery readers—and royalists, of course—will enjoy their audience with QEII. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.

Library Journal Reviews

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.