Murder in the Queen's Wardrobe

Murder in the Queen's Wardrobe is the first in the three-book Mistress Jaffrey Mystery Series, set in the early 1580s in England and Muscovy. It's a spinoff from Kathy Lynn Emerson's Face Down Mysteries. Rosamond, estranged foster daughter of Susanna, Lady Appleton (the sleuth in the Face Down series) is grown up and married to Rob Jaffrey, the son of Lady Appleton's steward and housekeeper. Rosamond is shocked to learn her estranged husband has gone off adventuring with the Muscovy Company and may be in danger. To keep him safe, she is willing to go undercover as an intelligence gatherer for the Crown, but when another agent is murdered, Rosamond must add crime-solving to her responsibilities. With action that moves from the English court of Queen Elizabeth the First to the Russia of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Murder in the Queen's Wardrobe is a unique combination of spy thriller and cozy historical mystery. "first-rate storytelling, eye-opening details of the politics and customs of the time, a taut and riveting plot, unexpected humor, and a charming and admirable heroine." Booklist "lots of twists and turns and Tudor tidbits." Kirkus