A young Russian pianist is found dead in Windsor Castle. He was one of the guests at the Queen’s dine-and-sleep, found in a compromising position too. The police promise to keep the investigation hush hush but the Queen doesn’t quite trust them to get the job done, so she orders her new Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie, to look into some details.

She liked to think that if one did have a traitor in one’s midst, he would at least be half competent.

I felt like I should read something thematic for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, so I picked up The Windsor Knot for a quick and easy read. I’m not usually a fan of cosy mysteries, finding them a bit twee, but this managed to be faintly believable despite it being about the Queen.

She doesn’t go around investigating herself, that would be ridiculous. But when the police start to think there’s a Russian spy among her staff, she knows they are barking up the wrong tree. Rozie does most the hard work, being sent off on various errands and to speak to people connected to the victim.

It’s hinted that this is something the Queen has been doing on the quiet for decades, always trying to solve these mysteries, but never taking credit. If you’ve been watching The Crown, this version of the Queen feels like it could also be that version. Maybe that’s where most the research came from!

At this point the suspect list became almost comic, including as it did Sir David Attenborough and the Archbishop of Canterbury. No – honestly, no. If one could not trust these men, one might as well give up.

It did wrap up a bit quickly, and I feel a few bits could have been foreshadowed better to give me more of a chance to come to the same conclusion as the Queen.

I think I have the second book on my TBR already, so I might give that a go when I’m in the mood for something light and frivolous.

This is my first 20 Books of Summer review (yeah, I better get a move on).

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