A severed hand is washed up on the Norfolk coast. Being Christmastime The Queen is in residence at Sandringham and recognises the hand as belonging to an old friend of the family. With the aid of her assistant private secretary, Rozie, The Queen is determined to discover what happened. In the course of her investigation she stumbles across a range of crimes including money laundering, a hit and run, and drugs.

Murder Most Royal is the third book in the Her Majesty The Queen Investigates series from S. J. Bennett. In the first book, The Windsor Knot, the setting was Windsor Castle. The second book, A Three Dog Problem, took place at Buckingham Palace. In the third book the action takes place at Sandringham. The change of setting for each book gives us greater insight into the lives of the royal family. You get a real sense that being at Sandringham The Queen is able to relax and really enjoy being with her family, it's a chance for her to recharge her batteries before returning to formal duties at "the gilded office block" that is Buckingham Palace.

This book, more than the previous two, made The Queen seem much more "normal". From all the books we are well aware that The Queen enjoys being out of doors, keeps boots in the car just in case and loves being around animals. In this story we see that at Sandringham there are lots of family traditions and a chance to live life away from the prying eyes of the press and public. All of this really humanised her.

Writer S. J. Bennett has done a fantastic job of portraying all members of the royal family. As I was reading the interactions between The Queen and Prince Phillip I could hear their actual voices. The rest of the family spring to life from the pages as we discover their Christmas traditions.

Subtle humour is seen throughout the story, from the comment about Buckingham Palace being a "gilded office block on the roundabout" to the "problem solving" as The Queen calls her investigations. We also have the silly gifts that the royal family exchange at Christmas, after all what do you give someone who already has everything?

There are some very modern elements to the story. The village grapevine still consists of the queue at the Co-op but has now been supplemented by WhatsApp groups for knitters, embroiderers and crocheters. The environment is featured by the mention of rewilding by some landowners and the craze for wild swimming is highlighted.

There were times when I struggled a bit with the story. I loved all the different crimes that appeared throughout, showing that even royalty are never far from the seamier side of life. However, I struggled to keep track of the vast array of characters and their inter-connections. Thankfully this doesn't detract from the overall story, one which is very poignant.

I love the premise of this series, that the late Queen Elizabeth played a part in investigating crime, and when a severed hand turns up near the Sandringham Estate, well, she’d have to be interested. I like the way that, as it’s the Christmas holidays, a lot of the Royals descend on Sandringham and so we get a glimpse, albeit fictional, of their day to day interaction. This is a neatly plotted, well written cozy, yet regal, murder/mystery, with plenty of clues, some lovely detecting and a satisfying ending. This could have been really cringeworthy, in view of recent events, but the author does an excellent job to make it really endearing. Loved it.

A right royal murder mystery!

In this instalment HM The Queen travels to Sandringham and gets involved in a murder mystery case after a dismembered hand washes up on a Norfolk beach.

Set at Christmas, this is a great read as we approach the festive season.

Christmas is coming at Sandringham. A severed hand in a carrier bag washes up on the beach.

When she sees the ring the hand is wearing, HMQ knows who the owner is. But where's the rest?

Now being accustomed to being an investigator of crime, the Queen enlists the help of her assistant Rozie to solve the case - but not before another body (this one complete) turns up

A very emotional read for me, but this third outing of the Queen as sleuth delivers a great read. HM is wonderful character, full of warmth, wry humour and care for those around her. And the dogs. Rozie is a joy. A truly strong woman in the best sense, growing with each book and yet with vulnerabilities as she copes with a world that is, in many ways, alien to her. The Sandringham setting is a joy and I love the fact that the small details are so accurate. This series goes from strength to strength and I can't wait for the next one.

HM the Queen is back as an amateur detective who always solves the case!
The story opens with a young girl’s discovery of a severed hand on the shores of the Wash in Norfolk.
Appraised of the gristly fact, the Queen, (a sprightly 90 year-old when the story is set) enlists the help of assistant press secretary Rozie Oshodi, who works with her to tease old secrets and scandals out of people and gradually uncover the truth about the murder of one of her neighbours.
Along the way, we’re introduced to a host of colourful characters, from young impoverished hothead Ivy Raspberry to the aristocratic St Cyr family (who are definitely hiding something)!
Though it’s quite audacious to present the Queen as a successful amateur detective, it’s also outrageously convincing, Author S.J. Bennett always treats her elderly protagonist with respect, endowing her with the qualities of shrewdness, humour and compassion which, judging from the tributes that poured in after her death in September, we’re all now aware that she had in spades.
The author uses the plot to explore themes that are common to humanity. Be we royal, aristocratic or plain common, family loyalty, scandal, sex and financial issues matter to us all, and who’s to say we wouldn’t kill to protect our interests?
Now that the Queen has gone, I hope this clever series doesn’t come to an end – it deserves many more than the three books already written.

Another brilliant instalment! After the passing of the Queen I wondered how I would feel reading this book, but it brought me such joy. I love this series and it was lovely to join the Queen for another investigation!

Quietly funny, good humoured and insightful. The third instalment of this series may be the best yet. With references to real life events if the time it is interesting to wonder how true to life it is.

The mystery this time was based in a family feud, and the issue of inheritance! It brought some unsavoury new characters and kept you guessing.

A very enjoyable murder mystery.

Reading this was bittersweet. I’ve loved the previous two books and this one is just as exciting and entertaining. I love the adventures and the anticipation.

Once again, a wonderful outing for Queen Elizabeth in which she solves another crime, this time in Sandringham. It was very emotive reading this not long after Her Majesty had died but as the books are set in the past it did help. I am finding that this series is going from strength to strength and that with each outing I like the characters more and more and the crimes are not obvious even though all the clues are there.
I am eagerly awaiting the next in this series.

I enjoyed this book. With the recent death of the Queen, it did make me wonder if this series would be continuing, though I have to say that I do think she had a good sense of humour that she would approve of this series.

I just love the idea of the Queen running the country but also solving murders on the side - though, of course she couldn't be known to be an amateur sleuth, she has to pass on 'clues' to the actual investigators to help them figure out the case.

With it being a lighthearted murder mystery, the killer is kinda obvious, but the journey to the reveal is very enjoyable.

After finishing this book, I do think that I may be getting bored of this series now, which is a shame because I absolutely love the concept!

I loved this book. A brilliant murder mystery. A fitting tribute to our Queen considering recent events. I particularly loved that it was set on the North Norfolk Coast and being back with Rozie.

Murder Most Royal is the third book in SJ Bennett's "Her Majesty The Queen Investigates" series. Before reviewing the book 2 things. Yes it features the late Queen Elizabeth the Second in a fictional role and no it's no way disrespectful and I'm sure with her known wry sense of humour our late Monarch would enjoy these books and find the whole thing quite amusing.

December 2016 sees the Royal Family decamping to Sandringham for the Christmas festivities ,while a severed hand is washed up and found by a young girl on a nearby beach. As we've become used to in this series Queen Elizabeth takes more than a passing interest and identifies the hand as that of local minor aristocrat Edward St Cyr, an elderly man with a chequered history from a dysfunctional family.
With the local police investigating the Queen and her trusted assistant Rozie do their own "off the radar" detective work and as they try to unravel the complicated history and relationships of the St Cyr family there's another murder and a possibly linked hit and run accident lending a sense of urgency.

This is a very entertaining series with the Queen and a handful of trusted associates solving crimes then,as obviously the Head of State doing a bit of amateur sleuthing would cause a bit of a stir, leaving clues for the police to discover and "solve" the cases for themselves.
SJ Bennett manages to make the whole thing as believable as it can be and an idea that could go badly and embarrassingly wrong actually works very well.