Book Summary and Reviews of Uneasy Lies the Crown by Tasha Alexander

Uneasy Lies the Crown by Tasha Alexander

Uneasy Lies the Crown

A Lady Emily Mystery

by Tasha Alexander

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Published:
  • Oct 2018, 304 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Lady Emily and her husband Colin must stop a serial killer whose sights may be set on the new king, Edward VII.

On her deathbed, Queen Victoria asks to speak privately with trusted agent of the Crown, Colin Hargreaves, and slips him a letter with one last command: Une sanz pluis. Sapere aude. "One and no more. Dare to know."

The year is 1901 and the death of Britain's longest-reigning monarch has sent the entire British Empire into mourning. But for Lady Emily and her dashing husband, Colin, the grieving is cut short as another death takes center stage. A body has been found in the Tower of London, posed to look like the murdered medieval king Henry VI. When a second dead man turns up in London's exclusive Berkeley Square, his mutilated remains staged to evoke the violent demise of Edward II, it becomes evident that the mastermind behind the crimes plans to strike again.

The race to find the killer takes Emily deep into the capital's underbelly, teeming with secret gangs, street children, and sleazy brothels - but the clues aren't adding up. Even more puzzling are the anonymous letters Colin has been receiving since Victoria's death, seeming to threaten her successor, Edward VII. With the killer leaving a trail of dead kings in his wake, will Edward be the next victim?

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"The two seemingly unrelated plots centuries apart come together in the end in a neat twist. English history lovers will be enthralled." - Publishers Weekly

"Alexander, who's adept at mixing historical facts with mysteries, includes chapters featuring a tale from 1415 that's easily as interesting as the convoluted mystery that finally brings past and present together." - Kirkus

"Plot strands tangle and threaten to unravel in this thirteenth episode of the Lady Emily Ashton and Colin Hargreaves series. But readers are in the author's trustworthy hands, and the working out of the puzzle will delight mystery and history buffs alike." - Booklist

"The dual story lines are a clever idea that unfortunately doesn't work. The frequent flashbacks are a distraction that leads to a rather underwhelming plot twist. Still, faithful readers of the series will be forgiving and even more eager for the next entry." - Library Journal

This information about Uneasy Lies the Crown was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Tasha Alexander

Tasha Alexander, the daughter of two philosophy professors, studied English Literature and Medieval History at the University of Notre Dame. She and her husband, novelist Andrew Grant, live on a ranch in southeastern Wyoming. She is the author of the long-running Lady Emily Series as well as the novel Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

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