The Windsor Knot

I enjoyed listening the book and finished it in a day. just the idea of HM the Queen solving mysteries and problem was fascinating enough to pic the book in first place and man; it didn't disappoint me. even the performance of Samantha Bond was perfect!definitely recommending this as your next title to listen.

This is an excellent book. I also listened to the Audible version and the narrator, Samantha Bond, does a fabulous job!

I DNFed this book. I found it very difficult to read beyond the halfway mark. The book was dull and had to do less with the central mystery and more with singing praises of the queen and giving the readers 'insight' into her life. And while i did want to know the solution to the mystery, i wasn't willing tonwade through another half of the book filled with the queen's praises and details of her life and schedule to know the solution.

(Voluntarily reviewed a Physical Copy of the book on For The Love of Fictional Worlds)I picked this cozy mystery “Queen Investigates” when I heard the news of Price Philip’s passing.I have got to be honest, I only picked up this book for nostalgic purposes and thus, didn’t actually have a whole lot of expectations - but this book definitely was a surprise.The Windsor Knot is actually a very snappy and clever title - it actually gives you a hint for the actual plotline - the Queen is having a little soirée in her home, The Windsor Castle with an eclectic collection of guests and believes it to be a success.Until the next morning, when The Queen is informed that a guest’s body was found in a very compromising position, though neither the staff nor the investigators believe it to be a little more than suicide.Beyond the actual investigation, The Windsor Knot is far more than just the investigation- its a look at a monarchy, the longest standing Queen in a world in a wholly different light.The mystery, and the characters within come together to give the readers an intriguing plot and a different insight into the Queen’s personality and working style that made it a wonderful read of a cozy mystery and intrigue.

A very innovative plot that involves Queen Elizabeth II solving crimes in secret while continuing to allow the various investigative agencies and everyone else to think of her as a frail, delicate woman who needs to be protected.A murder in Windsor castle causes the MI6 and police to think of various conspiracy theories involving spies and international relations, but that's not what the Queen believes. And she takes the help of her assistant private secretary Rozie to investigate on her own.The plot has humour that's typical of British wit and manages to thread in a mystery along with a portrait of life in the royal palace. Rozie, who is flummoxed in the beginning gradually gets into the act.The Queen as an investigator and her personal thoughts on various things that are told to her, including the pompous attitudes of some people who have no clue of her secret life and the extent of her understanding is genuinely funny.I enjoyed this one. A different read from the usual.

The plot is very unique, especially seeing the Queen solve the crime is very amusing. There's a lot that's happening, the police and the MI5 has a different trail of investigation while the Queen has her own doubts as to who the real murderer is.The problem is that it was a night of the party and straight away accusing any of the guests doens't sound good.The news of a man hanging naked to a knot in a wardrobe reaching out the press can also create chaos.The story moves very swiftly, unfortunately it didn't give me much to look forward to.It felt as if too much unnecessary information was provided that made little hurdles in the motion of the otherwise fast paced novel.I definitely had my doubts lurking in the wrong corners and the revelation of the culprit did surprise me but there were many loop holes in the story and hence the shock wasn't that great.The language is simple and easy to read, if you're really into solving the murder, the narration can keep you hitched to the story.But there were also many backstories in the novel and the attention sometimes was deflected.This was overall a good, one time read for me and it was nice reading about the Crown and how things work on the inside.I would recommend it to murder mystery lovers.

Couldn't get beyond a couple chapters. Too much of English royal scenario and tied into one mystery which did not seem interesting.

The plot of the story is quite innovative, and well plotted. The idea of Queen Elizabeth II being an investigator is refreshing and paves the way for an interesting series of stories to evolve. The storyline is well-told, with focus on details and vivid descriptions of people and events, along with reference to real life events and people, adding the touch of realism to the plot. The mystery is well shrouded, and the layers are well hidden as to unravel only when the time is right. However, there are places where the story becomes a bit stretched out and boring, especially the parts which are not very related to the murder mystery. While the plot does focus on solving the murder, there are places where the digression is quite apparent, specially when talking about horses etc. While these are important from the perspective of setting the stage, I believe some of the scenes could have been shortened. The climax is very well done, and the way the nudges have been used and implemented is commendable.

I found this book recommended online for people who has enjoyed Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club, and was sufficiently amused by the concept of the nonagenarian Queen as a secret mystery-solver that I snapped it up.And it is just fun. We’re aligned for much of the story with the new Assistant Private Secretary - a person with a normal background who somewhat unexpectedly finds herself working for The Boss - and that helps to reveal the world of Her Majesty and her subtle frustrations and attempts to help along.There are lots of little facts and elements that feel like the author has definitely done the homework on the royals, and the plot is well constructed and develops in the classic mystery novel style.I don’t think it’s in quite the same league as Richard Osman’s novel, but that doesn’t matter as I found it a delightful bit of escapism and will certainly pick up the sequel when it’s published next year.

I bought this book on a whim... it is one of the best books I have read this year( and I've read many) The story-line is pacy and holds the interest of the reader...it helps to have a knowledge of royalty, but most folk do... so enjoy it! its graet

So, this isn't quite historical fiction, but it's mainly set at Windsor Castle, so I'm going with it. The Windsor Knot was in the Kindle sale for 99p, and I decided to try it out on a whim, and I'm pleased I did. What I initially thought to be a cosy-mystery is a bit more than that and the plot becomes more and more complex as the queen wades through the information available to her.What I really enjoyed was the way the author managed to move the queen through the duties of her day to day business and still find time for her to be thinking more than the people at MI5.Set in 2016, just before her 90th birthday, this book is very much centred around the queen, and the people she trusts who have far more freedom than she does to get to the people and places she needs information about. There are no end of false leads and the two main characters, that of the queen and her personal secretary, Rosie, are well-constructed and engaging. And, although he only makes the odd appearance - Prince Phillip is a delight as well.If you're looking for a (reasonably) light-hearted murder-mystery that's well-grounded in today's world, then I would recommend this, and for 99p, it's an absolute steal. Not my usual read but a delight all the same.

What a great idea for a book - making our amazing Queen a sleuth.Totally pulled it off.Loved it.

The Windsor Knot is the first novel in S.J. Bennett’s series to feature Queen Elizabeth II in an investigative capacity, albeit on the down-low. It’s certainly an original set-up and for the most part I found it a witty and unexpectedly charming novel with the voice of the Queen captured impressively well and the author obviously having done a decent bit of research into life within the royal household. However the Queen and her humorous interactions with Prince Philip quickly prove to be the highlight of a novel in which I found the mystery itself hard to follow.Spring 2016 and Charles has hijacked the latest one of the Queen’s regular ‘Dine and Sleep’ events at Windsor Castle and invited a Russian contingent in order to curry favour for one of his ‘pet projects’. The next morning the body of Maxsim Brodsky, the young Russian pianist brought along by a guest to provide the entertainment, is discovered dead in a rather comprising position. The Queen’s long-serving Private Secretary, Sir Simon Holcroft, is determined to protect her from the unsavoury details but when pressed he mentions that MI5 are thinking that Putin could be behind it, with a sleeper spy having been planted in the ranks of the household staff. The Queen decides to look into matters herself and unbeknownst to Sir Simon it’s not the first mystery she’s been involved with and discretely steered in the right direction. The Queen’s Assistant Private Secretary of six months, Rozie Oshodi, is about to discover another requirement of her role as she soon finds herself doing the legwork. Brought up in a London council house. a former army Captain and with a spell in the City behind her, thirty-year-old Rozie is unfazed by anything.The Queen sends Rozie off to interview people and find out things but doesn’t really elaborate on her reasons why, which I found weren’t always obvious and this made the mystery hard work to follow. Furthermore there are a numbers of characters referenced who we never meet or are simply name-checked making it quite hard to remember who they are, let alone how they might be involved in what becomes a rather convoluted affair. Ultimately I found it a bit of a slog to push through to the finish and it was the endearing portrayal of the Queen (“the Boss” to her staff) that kept me reading. Hopefully in the follow-up novel the mystery element will be as compelling as the exchanges between the Queen and Prince Philip are and the Queen might actually let Rozie (and readers) in on her line of thinking! Overall I didn’t find the book gripping and with the lack of urgency and negligible suspense it has the feel of a lightweight novelty read.