Disappointing turn from Tasha Alexander. The plot was completely improbable and ridiculous. Alexander continues to treat her readers as if they are simpering idiots with her attempts to be coy about her protagonist’s sex life. It comes across as insipid and insulting to readers.

Uneasy Lies the Crown by Tasha Alexander 4.5 stars

I enjoyed this book; like her last book "Death in St. Petersburg" the story switches from Lady Emily's viewpoint to another persons. In Death in St, Petersburg, the chapters were divided into trying to find out who killed the ballerina to a story told from the ballerina's viewpoint. In this book, the chapters alternate from 1901 to 1415. The beginning of the book starts with Queen Victoria's death and a mysterious letter. In the 1901 section, there is a killer on the loose that maybe a threat to the crown. In the 1415 sections, the story is told from the viewpoint of a young bride whose husband is in Henry V's army on its way to France. At first, I didn't see the point for the 1415 sections, but it is all explained in the end. The mystery portion of this books was engaging and it showed that Lady Emily is a able partner to Colin even though it scandalizes certain Police Inspectors. The children have a small part in the book and it shows Emily and Colin as parents, not just investigators. I look forward to the next Lady Emily adventure.

"Uneasy Lies the Crown" is a historical mystery set in England. There were two story lines, one set in 1415 (and some years after that) and the main mystery set in 1901, right after Queen Victoria's death. This is the 13th book in a series, but you don't need to read the previous books to understand this one. This book did not spoil any previous mysteries in the series.

Lady Emily's husband is busy ensuring the safety of the new King after a murdered man is found dressed up like a past, murdered king. She's not so sure that the threat is against the new king despite the "murdered king" theme, so she asked people questions to find the link between the murder victims. She tried to prevent any future murders even though the victims weren't nice men. At the end, she jumped to some conclusions with little proof because she trusts her intuition. (Granted, I suspected these people, too, but I prefer firm proof before a character starts making accusations like they're a fact.)

There were no graphic sex scenes. There were a couple uses of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting and enjoyable mystery.

Uneasy Lies the Crown by Tasha Alexander is an interesting murder mystery set in England at the end of the reign of Queen Victoria. Emily Hargreaves, the wife of Colin Hargreaves who served the queen. Queen Victoria gives Colin a cryptic written message that leads him and his wife on the hunt for the murderer of several people. Their killer might pose a threat the the new king. They must discover who that killer might be and the meanings of several hidden messages attached to the murders.
The story jumps between that time period and the earlier one in which King Henry V fought the French at Agincourt. . We hear the story of the battle and the bravery of William Hargrave, an ancestor of Colin Hargreaves, and William's wife Cecily. These stories are all finally joined at the close of the book.
I was fascinated by this mystery. I found the story of William and Cecily difficult to follow at first because the novel starts with the events surrounding Cecily, but it then switches to William and his war experiences without a separation marking where one story ends and the other begins. I would have preferred at least a break using more spacing to help see that the author was changing subjects. That being said, though, I liked the book a lot. It is a different take on the genre of mystery and I was thoroughly engrossed in the plots. I would definitely recommend this novel to mystery enthusiasts.

I enjoyed this new book in the Lady Emily series! This will appeal not only to readers who are already fans of this series, but also to those who enjoy historical mysteries with a strong female lead. This takes place in 1901 England, with a related secondary story from the 1400's, which I particularly liked.

To read this book is to be delightfully immersed in the time period. The author has a good ability to provide background details for readers such as myself who aren't familiar with historical events referenced in this book. I found the mystery unique and think it all came together well.

The relationship between Lady Emily and Colin Hargreaves has always been one of the big draws of this series for me. Even though they are now a married couple with children, their relationship was one of my favorite parts of this book. They continue to complement each other and are maturing together in a lovely way. I was also delighted to see Jeremy Sheffield, the charmingly roguish Duke of Bainbridge, appear in this book.

I believe this can be read as a standalone and I recommend it.

I found myself speeding to finish this latest installment in the Lady Emily mystery series, even though I could never quite buy into the modes of crime in this one.
Tasha Alexander always does a great job weaving historical people and places into her stories. This time is no exception, with a mysterious vigilante on the loose in London who dresses and poses his victims as old kings of England. It required more than a little suspension of disbelief to accept this modus operandi, but it made for an interesting plot. It's all taking place immediately after the death of Queen Victoria and the succession of her son to the throne, so Emily and her husband are left to ponder, is someone threatening the new king, or merely on some kind of personal quest for vengeance?
As with several of her most recent novels, Tasha Alexander alternates timelines throughout her book. Each chapter about Lady Emily is followed by a shorter chapter narrating a tale from England and France of the 1400s. The connection between the two accounts is unclear until the very end. This narrative choice really helps the pacing and the brevity of the historical chapters made it easy to keep on reading.
It is much more clear to me in this book that Lady Emily is meant to pay tribute and borrow some of the qualities of that other strong-minded mystery-solving Victorian, Amelia Peabody. If I hadn't been able to identify this connection, I think I would have found her high-handedness rather annoying.
Though I haven't always been a fan of Lady Emily's ahead-of-her-time attitude, I find she is settling into herself a little better as she ages.

Uneasy Lies the Crown follows last year's excellent, A Death in St. Petersburg. This time, Lady Emily and Colin are trying to keep the (very) new king safe from possible threats. There have been several murders, with each corpse dressed as an historical king. Is this meant as a direct threat to Bertie or is there something else going on?

In tandem with this plot is a story set in the 1400s. This is the tale of a brave knight who fights for his king and of his relationship with his wife. This earlier historical tale is connected with Colin's ancestors.

This book will be welcomed by those who read each book by Tasha Alexander as it comes out. That having been said, I thought that last year's entry was stronger. I look forward to seeing what comes next. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this read.

Oh, dear. My relationship with this series may be coming to an end. The last couple have been decidedly average, and this book fell below that, in my opinion.

The first two chapters actually had me excited for the rest of the book. First, Queen Victoria dies- the book is set in 1901. Both Emily and her husband Colin have had her as queen for their entire lives, much as we have Queen Elizabeth II today. Two things of import happen: first, Colin is given a letter by the queen shortly before she passes. It's a mystery that he can't understand. Second, a body is found in the Tower of London during the new king's coronation ceremony. The body is positioned in a costume and position that evokes a past slain king. This seems like a threat to the new monarch, but how did the killer pull off such a staging of the body?

As per her last few books, there is a split story here. The second part of the story takes place starting in 1415, with one of Colin's distant ancestors, just before he was given his title.

I love English history and getting to read about two different time periods sounded awesome. However: Lady Emily seems to have become a caricature of herself. She is maddenly oblivious to her own privilege as an aristocrat and her gallivanting off to the East End to interrogate a grieving widow whom she's never met was just the first thing that I found annoying. More bodies turn up, and again the staging of them verges on the ludicrously improbable. In addition, she and Colin are doing a sort of scavenger hunt in an attempt to make some sense of the queen's last request to him. A drawing of a lance leads Lady Emily to a lance display in the Tower of London, where she conveniently finds another piece of paper with a drawing of a... rock? Why didn't anyone notice the envelope stuck into the wall in the lance display before she did?

Meanwhile, the 1415 storyline turns into more of a summary of a story than an actual story. The tale runs along the surface and splits yet again- one part following Lady Cecily as she waits for her husband to return from the fighting in France at a childhood friend's estate, and one part with her husband. The war part felt like a summary of a history book- I didn't care about any of the characters because there wasn't enough time spent on them. Lady Cecily wasn't any better. All she wanted to do was read her Christine de Pizan book, pray, and avoid people. Maybe some light embroidery. It felt like the author wanted to write a book in a different time period but couldn't get away with actually doing that so instead she inserted half of the book she'd wanted to write into a Lady Emily book.

Anyway, I skipped to the end and read backwards. I'll only say that the two strands of the 1901 mystery had nothing to do with each other and both were... far-fetched. The 1415 storyline ended up feeling like a morality play- nothing unexpected, nothing to get excited about. Lady Cecily and Lady Emily each felt rather self-righteous. These books have stopped feeling like an exciting interlude in another century and have started feeling like visiting a relative that I don't particularly like. I will probably give the series another try, knowing me, but I feel that the characters have gotten stale and that the series could use a rest.

Lady Emily and her husband, Colin, are back. Lady Emily is not taken seriously by the lead detective on the murder case. While she and Colin may not agree on the why things are happening, he still supports her line of inquiry. Lady Emily still continues to go where no Lady should to find the answers to her questions and therefore solving the mystery.

I received an eARC from Minotaur Books via NetGalley for an honest review. - Another great book in the Lady Emily series

Another edition to the Lady Emily and her husband Colin's mysteries. This one takes place after the death of Queen Victoria with her son Edward in line to succeed her. But is someone threatening the new King? This book is a little different than the previous books in that there is a parallel story that takes place during the reign of Henry V and one of Colin's earliest ancestors, really quite fascinating.
The mystery is good adding to the canon of this series.

Lady Emily is an inquisitive lady of refinement. She loves a good puzzle and if danger is afoot all the better. Having first met Lady Emily in "And Only to Deceive" she has become bolder and more zealous in her pursuit of justice and fixing problems. Now married to Colin Hargreaves, she is in a perfect position to assist this agent of the crown.

The newest adventure begins when Queen Victoria, on her death bed, gives Colin a coded message. Colin doesn't think much of it and chalks it up the confusion of sickness on the monarchs part. When bodies dressed as long dead murdered kings begin showing up in London, staged in period dress, Colin wonders if the message form the Queen is connected.

Lady Emily has other ideas and begins pursuing leads of her own. Lady Emily follows in the steps of Elizabeth Peters Amelia Peabody as an English lady with brains, gumption and a grand sense of adventure.