I thought this was quite an original idea for a book! The Queen of England solves mysteries? Sounds far fetched, but the way the author sets everything up just makes sense. I thought the characterization was very well done, especially placing a well known person in a fictionalized setting. This is a very smooth read; the pacing is good. I did not feel like there were any slow spots in the novel. I would have liked to see more of the Queen’s thought process of how she arrived at the actual solution, as the solution seemed to have come out of nowhere, but the solution at least made sense! I look forward to the next book in the series.

What a delightful little read! You do have to suspend disbelief a little and I wish more clues would have been dropped throughout, instead of all of it being explained at the end. But I loved the writing and the characters and will read the next in the series.

I enjoyed this story, especially the Queen's narration. I wish she had been more involved in the mystery, but did enjoy how she worked in the background. It was a cozy little mystery, and the little royal details were a fun touch. Rounding up my 3.5 star rating to a 4.

Contemporary royalty and cozy mystery. Excellent combination! There is a mysterious death at Windsor Castle after the queen’s dine and sleep party. She disagrees with how MI5 is handling the case, but has nothing to back her suspicions. She enlists the assistance of her Assistant Private Secretary to find information and help solve the murder. Queen Elizabeth II is intelligent, graceful, caring, and quick-witted. Her character is so well drawn. Rozie is strong and intelligent. She’s a well-developed character balancing real life issues, working with royalty and nobility, and now the additional responsibilities of basically a private investigator.

I enjoyed this book so much! I hope this is the first of many.

I was very excited about a mystery involving the royal family with the queen solving the murders. However, there were a lot of characters that made it difficult to remember what was happening. In addition, I found that this one was slow moving and did not keep my interest as I had anticipated.

This was truly a unique premise for a new cozy mystery series. I liked the idea of the Queen of England being the brains behind the mystery solving but her being so stealth as to having to the rather useless official investigators thinking they had achieved it all. (Although that annoyed me since they acted as though the queen couldn’t think at all let alone handle their male greatness and intelligence). I also liked that the story gave some humanizing to the Queen and showed her as both a person and a figure. I do hope there will be more, but I hope that the mystery can be a little more in future volumes. Maybe it was the third party investigating but this mystery seemed a little flat and small although at it’s first introduction it was a bit scandalous. It was certainly creative to have a piano player die at Windsor castle in a dressing gown appearing to have taken part in kinky sex games that left him dead.

I loved the premise of this book-Queen Elizabeth as a sleuth.I enjoyed the way she was portrayed as having a sense of humor also.The story was a little hard to follow at times though so I gave it three stars.

This was such a fun read! I love reading about and watching things about the Royal Family. It's such an interest to me since I'm an American. I found this to be bittersweet at the same time since Prince Phillip just passed and I finished reading it on the day of his funeral. SJ Bennett made me feel like I was actually there and so many details were spot on from what I've seen and read. It was so fun the Queen Elizabeth was the actual "detective" and makes me so excited for Book 2!

I received an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to the author and the publisher for the opportunity.

During a dinner party/sleepover at Windsor castle, performers is found dead the next morning under peculiar circumstances. Queen Elizabeth is informed, and it is an amusing scene to read of her advisors trying to inform her of the less than acceptable details without actually *telling* her. An investigation is mounted, but isn’t seeming to move along too swiftly, or satisfactorily. The Queen gets involved (sort of behind the scenes), and answers are found. The murder is solved, with the investigators eventually reaching the conclusion that the Queen had reached, without the knowledge that Her Majesty was working on it as well.

Who doesn’t want to read about 90-year old Queen Elizabeth secretly solving mysteries while still going about her royal life?! The Windsor Knot is exactly the kind of book I didn’t know I needed in my life and I am SO excited for the next book.

This isn’t what I would call a “cozy” mystery, but to me, everything in England sure seems cozy when it’s raining.

What a complete delight!

SJ Bennett’s The Windsor Knot is a charming cozy mystery starring Queen Elizabeth II and her assistant Rozie. I absolutely loved this book. I am a huge fan of Miss Marple and Jessica Fletcher so the Queen as a sleuth makes perfect sense to me. I loved the references to the Obamas and other world leaders. The investigator, Humphries, thinks Queen Elizabeth is doddering and a bit senile. Little does he know! This is an excellent start to the series. I can’t wait for book#2. Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow and Custom House for the copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

I so wanted to love this book but it just did not grab my attention or desire to go and sit in a quiet place to read. As a British citizen, I’m a fan of the Queen and the monarchy. Whilst the commentary on the daily life of the Queen and the operations of the inside of the Palaces was interesting, the murder took a back seat. I could not keep clear who all the suspects were and had to keep going back to refresh my memory. This book did not gel for me.

The morning after hosting a small party/soiree at Windsor Castle, the Queen learns that one of the performers, a Russian pianist, was found dead, in a with a rope around his neck, and at first glance his death appears to be due to auto erotic asphyxiation. They discover, however, that the scene was staged and he was actually murdered. the Queen, dissatisfied with the conclusions the police and MI5 are coming to, decides to solve the mystery herself.
This book was light, funny, and a great cozy mystery that got me out of a reading slump after February/March. It was a joy to read about what life might be like for the Queen and those around her.

A young Russian pianist is murdered at the Queen’s dine and sleep and the Queen is unhappy with MI5’s investigation. She asks her private secretary, Rozie Oshodi, to quietly investigate. And with a name like that, how can you not root for her to solve the mystery,

This book is so playful and fun with quirky characters like Rozie and a down to earth Queen working to unwind what happened to the young Russian. While it is billed as a cozy mystery, it really is so much more entertaining than that.

Can you imagine if the Queen of England has been quietly solving murders with a few discreet staff for years? Being in the US it was also fun to see how other nations view the Russians and Putin.

A delightfully fun take on cozy mysteries.

I admit, I totally picked up this book to review because Queen Elizabeth II is the sleuth and I was really curious as to how that was going to play out. What I got was an interesting look at royal life along with a murder mystery.

Ms. Bennett draws from many real-life characters and events for her story. The book is set around the time of the Queen’s 90th birthday and all her family and many other famous folks either make an appearance or are mentioned. It’s rather kind of odd to be a fly on the wall as the Queen entertains the Obamas. I did find it rather interesting to get a peek of the behind-the-scenes, everyday goings-on in royal life… at least Ms. Bennett’s version. I’m not entirely sure how accurate it is, but it was interesting.

There were a ton of characters introduced, from her assistant Rozie, to the head of MI5, to all the various staff and those involved with the mystery. I think many of the characters will be recurring in the series, like Rozie. But it was a touch overwhelming as I had to keep stopping and trying to remember how a person fits into the story.

The mystery itself was all over the place. I mean, Ms. Bennett threw so many curve balls in there, I felt like I was getting whiplash. And when I read that Queen Elizabeth was the sleuth, I was confused when she was more like a chess player moving the pieces around the chessboard having others do the work for her… but I suppose that’s how it would have to be since the Queen really can’t go slumming around snooping all over London. So in that way, it was rather clever. Just totally not what I was expecting.

The Windsor Knot isn’t a bad novel, but I think it suffers from the first in a new series syndrome of needing to do a lot of character introductions and world-building to the point that it’s a bit overwhelming. But the characters and interesting and the mystery was pretty solid. If you’d like a different sort of mystery set in the world of the British royals, this might be the series for you.

After an enjoyable evening of food, drink, merriment, dancing, and piano playing, a young Russian pianist is found dead in one of the bedrooms of Windsor Castle. MI5 investigates but when the Queen realizes that they are moving the investigation in the wrong direction she starts her own inquiry with the help of her Assistant Private Secretary Rozie Oshodi. This cozy mystery creates an image of a queen that because of her age is often thought to be not totally with it and may be offended by indelicate topics. It also creates the image of a woman, mother, and grandmother much like any other who might just happen to be queen.

This was a quick and enjoyable read.

Thank you #WilliamMorrow and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a new mystery series for fans of the royals. Set in 2016, Queen Elizabeth II is preparing for her 90th birthday celebration when an overnight guest is found dead in Windsor Castle. The young Russian pianist has been murdered, and while M15 searches for a Russian spy sent by Putin, the Queen sets some of her valued employees on the case. A fun look at the royal family and an engaging mystery. I look forward to more!

A great read for fans of mystery, international relations, and the monarchy. While it wasn't my style I think there are plenty of fans out there who will enjoy this.

Queen Elizabeth II solving crimes was a big no for me. It probably doesn't help that the news lately puts the royal family in a bad light but seriously I would have loved this series more if it was just Rosie, the Queen's assistant doing all the crime solving with the Queen knowing none of it. I'm a mystery lover and the actual mystery itself fell flat for me. I didn't care about the murder of how it was committed and could not picture the Queen giving a rats ass either.

Loved this introduction to the series of the Queen solving mysteries. It is written in a creative way to solve a mystery without actually solving it. I enjoyed following Rozie investigate and introducing us to some potential future characters.

Looking forward to more in the series!

Thank you to Net Gallery for the ARC.