Lady Grace Mysteries
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The Lady Grace Mysteries is a detective fiction series about the escapades of Lady Grace Cavendish, a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth I. The books are written in the style of a diary. Each book sees her trying to solve a mystery of the court. The stories are set in 1569 and 1570, and there are nine books so far; Assassin; Betrayal; Conspiracy; Deception; Exile; Feud; Gold; Haunted and Intrigue . The tenth book; Jinx has not yet been released. The first book, Assassin, was published in 2004.
Contents |
[edit] Authors
The first four books, Assassin, Betrayal and Conspiracy, and the later Feud, were written by Patricia Finney, and the later ones are written by Sara Volger and Jan Burchett, though on the covers it says the author is "Grace Cavendish".
[edit] Series
- Assassin by Patricia Finney
- Betrayal by Patricia Finney
- Conspiracy by Patricia Finney
- Deception by Sara Vogler & Jan Burchett
- Exile by Sara Vogler & Jan Burchett
- Feud by Patricia Finney
- Gold! by Sara Vogler & Jan Burchett
- Haunted by Sara Vogler & Jan Burchett
- Intrigue by Sara Vogler & Jan Burchett
- Jinx
- Keys (January 2009)
[edit] Characters
There are a number of recurring characters who appear in all the books.
[edit] Lady Grace Cavendish
Lady Grace Cavendish is the youngest Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth I. She is an orphan: her mother drank poison intended for the Queen and her father died when her mother was pregnant, fighting a war in France. She is sharp and clever. Her carefully concealed best friends are Ellie and Masou, who are of lower status than that of herself. Grace and the other Maids of Honour are looked after by the impatient mistress, Mrs Champernowne. Even though Grace (whom as far as they know never existed) the name and surname they chose for her mum really belonged to a real person called Lady Margaret Cavendish.
[edit] Queen Elizabeth
Daughter of Henry the 8th and Anne Boleyn, a very good queen with flaming orange hair and a quick temper. She never got married but had many suitors.
[edit] Ellie Bunting
Ellie is a laundrymaid of Queen Elizabeth's court who later in the series in "Haunted" becomes her very good friend Lady Grace's tiring woman. she is very good friends with Grace and Masou (one of the Queens tumblers)and She often assists them in solving mysteries. Like Grace she is an orphan, but she is treated much worse because she is a servant. She sneaks out occasionally to meet Grace and Masou and when she can Grace steals food for her.
[edit] Masou
Masou is a skilled tumbler in Queen Elizabeth's court. like Ellie later in the series in "Haunted" he becomes one of the Queens very own Fools after performing an act of bravery. He is good friends with Grace and Ellie and helps them solve mysteries. He is cheeky, fun and boastful about his skills. Masou is from Africa and never knew his mother, who died at his birth. His father died of consumption after arriving in England.
[edit] Lady Sarah Bartelmy
Lady Sarah only cares for her looks. She flirts a lot with her suitors and fights a lot with Lady Jane. In the book Betrayal we discover that Lady Sarah in fact use to be a real tom boy in her youth, she use to climb the rigging of her fathers ship and was even once offered to be the ship's cabin boy until the captain discovered who she was. But then she grew out of her boyish ways and focused most of her attention on finding young suitors to flirt with. Not much is known about Lady Sarah's childhood or family except that she is an heiress and her family owns a large estate called Bartemly house. Lady Sarah is very pretty (and she sure knows it!) with pretty copper coloured locks and a big bosom. She fusses over her clothes which drives Mary Shelton and Lady Grace, who share a bedchamber with her, mad. Her rival at court is Lady Jane, who is in competition with her for the attention of young gentlemen present.
[edit] Lady Jane
Lady Jane despises Lady Sarah, and vice versa. She is constantly searching for ways to exceed Lady Sarah in getting the attention of the young gentlemen.
[edit] Mary Shelton
Mary Shelton is the chubby but kind friend of Lady Grace. She is clueless about Grace's detective work, but she is very useful to Grace when it comes to information about the people around her.
[edit] Books
[edit] Assassin
One suitor dead with a knife in his back, and another under suspicion... Can Lady Grace, Queen Elizabeth's favourite maid of honour, solve the mystery and bring order back to the Queen's Court?
[edit] Betrayal
Life as a stowaway on board an Elizabethan galleon is dangerous and dirty - it's no place for a lady! But when her fellow Maid of Honour disappears with a dashing sea captain, Lady Grace knows she just has to investigate.
[edit] Conspiracy
The Royal Court is on its summer travels and Lady Grace is sure something strange is going on. As the Queen narrowly escapes a series of mysterious accidents, Grace must investigate who might be behind the conspiracy. Could it really be one of the Queen's suitors - or even a faithful friend?
[edit] Deception
The river Thames has frozen over and Lady Grace can't wait to skate down to the Frost Fair. But a gruesome dicovery on the ice interrupts the winter revelry. Could the dead body with the coins on its eyes be connected to problems with the Queen's new currency? Lady Grace must unravel the mystery and track down the master forgers before it's too late...
[edit] Exile
There's a new arrival at court! Banoo Yasmine has a pet panther and is rumoured to have magical powers. Yasmine also owns the renowned Heart of Kings ruby. When the famed jewel goes missing, the finger is pointed at one of Grace's friends. Can Grace find the true thief? And will she be able to prove that Boona is not magic?
[edit] Feud
The Queen's portrait painters are at Court, bearing exotic colours with deadly ingredients. Lady Grace is fascinated by the work of the artists, especially when she begins to suspect there is a poisoner at work. Could the paints - or one of the painters - be to blame?
[edit] Gold!
Preparations for a wedding at Court are interrupted when a shipment of gold is stolen! The culprit is a masked horseman, all in black... or is it a gang of ruffians from the forest? The mysterious clues point in different directions and Grace, Queen Elizabeth's secret Lady Pursuivant, can't make sense of them. Will she be able to help recover the fortune?
[edit] Haunted
The Queen and her Maids of Honour are spending the summer at a nobleman's estate where a new manor house is being built. But the work has to stop when a spectral figure appears. Could the ghost of a murdered Earl be haunting the site of his death? Grace begins to investigate and finds that there are many rumours about the ghost - and uncovering the truth could be dangerous...
[edit] Intrigue
A new play: "Intrigue" is just about to open in Whitehall. The play includes a very clever, convincing death scene, and Queen Elizabeth is desperate to see it before the rest of her country. But the death scene seems rather too real! Can Grace find the murderer before an innocent man is executed?
[edit] Jinx
It's the height of summer and the palace is busy, full of Spanish ambassadors and ladies of the Spanish court. When a visit to the famous St Bartholomew's fair is planned to entertain the guests, Grace is very excited ...Not everybody feels the same though and there's a lot of superstition amongst the ladies about the gypsies, fortune tellers and herbal medicine that will be at the fair. It seems they're right to be worried when a fire at the fair leaves Lady Sarah injured and one of the gypsy woman apparently dead. Was the fire started on purpose? And can Grace get to the bottom of the mystery?
