Death at Buckingham Palace

Her Majesty Investigates #1

by C.C. Benison

Jane Bee came to Europe for adventure, only to end up with the job of a housemaid at Buckingham Palace. Now her greatest challenge is removing gum from State Room carpets—until she comes across a nasty accident right outside the Royal Apartments. The Queen herself has literally stumbled across the dead body of Jane’s good friend, footman and aspiring actor Robin Tukes, in what appears to be a suicide.

But why would handsome, impetuous Robin, having just toasted his engagement to a gorgeous housemaid, not to mention his impending fatherhood, want to die? Buck House buzzes, but only Jane, and the Royal Personage known belowstairs as “Mother,” suspect foul play. At Her Majesty’s behest, Jane launches a discreet inquiry that takes her from the Servants’ Hall to the highest echelons of the Palace. Yet the more Jane uncovers, the clearer it becomes that this latest royal scandal is a real killer.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, British Literature, Fiction, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, Historical Mystery

273 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1996

About the author

C. C. Benison is the pen name of Douglas Whiteway, a Canadian journalist and novelist based in Winnipeg. A graduate of Carleton University's School of Journalism, he has worked for both the Winnipeg Tribune and the Winnipeg Free Press.

His newest novel, Dionision Life: A Comedy, is a contemporary romantic comedy set on a fictional Gulf Island in British Columbia. Warm, witty, and character-driven, it follows Evan Boone as he discovers that second chances, old loves, and island life rarely unfold as expected.

His previous novel, The Unpleasantness at the Battle of Thornford, a Father Christmas novella, was published in 2020. Before that came Paul is Dead: A Novel (2018), a literary thriller set in an isolated lakeside cottage.

Benison is also the author of the acclaimed Her Majesty Investigates mysteries, in which Queen Elizabeth II quietly assists in solving murders on the royal estates. The series includes Death at Buckingham Palace, Death at Sandringham House, and Death at Windsor Castle. He is also the author of Death in Cold Type, a murder mystery set in Winnipeg.

His Father Christmas mysteries began with Twelve Drummers Drumming in 2011, introducing Tom Christmas—an Anglican priest, widower, and single father who solves crimes in and around the Devon village of Thornford Regis. The series continued with Eleven Pipers Piping, and Ten Lords A-Leaping.

C. C. Benison's novels range from classic mysteries to contemporary fiction, united by memorable characters, wit, and a sharp sense of place.

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best First Novel (1997): Death at Buckingham Palace

Reviews

[C. (Don't blank click my reviews, comment please!]

Canadians are elated when novels are by us, or feature us. I am not a fan of “cozy mysteries”, because adult literature shouldn't be watered down like it's for children, nor lack complexity. I was surprised I liked “Death At Buckingham Palace” as much as I did. Doug Whiteway / C.C. Benison is a Winnipegger! My sole disappointment is ugly religious swearing among his Goodreads folder titles. That's no “cozy” image.

If I give points for hometown material and I have been outside Buckingham Palace; my next points keenly appreciate originality. It's too bad he stopped at a trio of novels but I can surmise why that was. He presumably researched the real place, like authors did with Jane Austen and Beatrix Potter, and explored what it might be like to approach Elizabeth II in private life and collaborate with her, as sleuths! Alas, the royals changed with the death of Princess Diana on.... wow, she died today: August 31st, in 1997! What a crazy coincidence to write this review, now! Doug's novel came out in 1996. The second may have been written before this tragic day, too.

If we picture the queen as a strong woman we admire, whom we are sure is a dear in person; you can imagine Jane Bee's experience working with her: awestricken! Jane is a Canadian working in London, who visits an Aunt on week-ends. Her perspective on the intelligent, personable monarch she acquaints, as well as how hard it is to have an audience even if you live at the palace; are all facets that raise this novel to greater interest than we expect. It is “cozy” in humour, because there is no danger or fear. Doug's approach is comedy. However, this insight into a world we largely know only visually, is fascinating.

[Kyrie]

It was a good story, although I thought the conclusion went on a bit long. It did tie everything up, so no complaints there.

I was amused by how the English apparently look down on the Canadians as "Americans" and the Canadians dislike it.

Learned some bits of history while reading it, too.

[Jonathon McKenney]

I can’t say this book was good, but it was definitely fun. Mindless fluffery. Would be a great beach/ plane/ cabin read.

[Paulski]

DNF bei 20%.
Hab gehofft die Queen ermittelt und lässt nicht ermitteln.

[C-shaw]

I read this out of order, started with the second book, _Death at Sandringham Palace_ first. These are cool little mysteries, with the Queen helping to solve the murders.

[Karen Witzler]

Cozy mystery featuring housemaid Jane Bee and QEII. Next is Murder at Sandringham House.

[Vanessa]

Love these. Very good details which seem authentic about the British Royal family.

[Liz]

Fun and quick read about a housemaid solving a murder at Buckingham Palace with help from the Queen.

[Shauna]

When I chose this title, I was hoping for a mystery with some of Downton Abby's regency. I was disappointed in this. The mystery is set in a modern frame and, though we hear tidbits about the palace and whatnot, it is decidedly more... familiar(?). The opulence that sets something like Downton apart is absent. However, by the time the story was wrapped up I found myself eagerly anticipating the next installment.

[Cathy]

A delightful cozy mystery with "Bridget Jones's Diary" vibes. The mystery takes a back seat to the personalities but still manages to be interesting and build tension.

[Evaczyk]

Irgendwie landen in letzter Zeit immer wieder unterhaltsame Krimis auf meinem Bücherstapel, in denen prominente Frauen ermitteln - Angela Merkel in der Uckermark etwa und nun gleich doppelt die Queen: Nach dem "Windsor Komplott" ist bei Bastei-Lübbe nun "Tod im Buckingham Palast" von C.C. Benison erschienen, dessen Original allerdings bereits vor einigen Jahren veröffentlicht wurde. Was nicht nur daran bemerkbarist, dass die Handlung kurz nach dem "anno horribilis" der Scheidungen der Königkinder spielt, sondern auch etwa von Walkman und anderen technischischen Geräten die Rede ist, die der jüngeren Vergangenenheit angehören.

C.C. Benison ist ein Pseudonym des kanadischen Autors Doug Whiteway. So ist es wohl nicht verwunderlich, dass die zweite Protagonistin des Buches, das Hausmädchen Jane Bee, Kanadierin ist. Und auch sonst stößt der Leser auf verschiedene "Canucks", die dank britischer Abstammung nicht nur im Palast Dienst tun, sondern auch erstaunliche Wurzeln in der britischen Gesellschaft haben.

Dass Jane im Auftrag ihrer Majestät unter die Hobby-Schnüffler geht, ist denn auch dem plötzlichen Tod eines anderen Kanadiers zu verdanken. Der Lakai Robin wird nämlich ausgerechnet vor den Privatgemächern der Queen gefunden. One is not amused, obviously. Immerhin haben die unartigen Corgies den Toten nicht angeknabbert.

Robin war ein Freund Janes und obwohl die Palast-Gerüchte von Selbstmord sprechen, will sie nicht an diese Version glauben. Gewiss, Robin neigte zu Depressionen, doch die Queen vermutet, dass er dem Geheimnis eines verschwundenen Tagebuchs auf der Spur war. Im Laufe ihrer Nachforschungen findet Jane, die in diesem Fall die Laufarbeit übernimmt und anschließend in einem Geheimzimmer mit der Queen die Hinweise analysiert, auf manche Frage: Warum hat sich der schwule Robin mit einem anderen Hausmädchen verlobt, das obendrein vom Pressesekretär schwanger ist? Ist er tatsächlich Anwärter auf einen Adelstitel - und wer sonst hätte Interesse, den Titel und die dazugehörige Apanage zu erben? Was weiß der unsympatische Klatschreporter einer Boulevardzeitung, der Jane immer wieder über den Weg läuft? Und welche Rolle spielt Robins Ex-Freund Karim, der dringend Geld braucht, um seine Schwester vor einer Zwangsheirat zu schützen?

Benison spielt mit den transatlantischen Gegensätzen und natürlich auch gleich mit den - für Kanadier unerwünschten - Verallgemeinerungen. Sie sind keine Amerikaner (das sind die Nachbarn südlich der Grenze), eh! Skurril-sympatische und auch einige nicht so sympatische bevölkern den durchaus launig geschriebenen Cozy-Krimi, der mehr unterhaltend als nervenzerrend ist.

[writer...]

Filled with wit and dry humour, Canadian author, CC Benison, offers a colourful 1st in his series, Her Majesty Investigates.

Canadian house maid at Buckingham Palace as protagonist, Jane Bee, performs double duty as she privately investigates the loss of a fellow Canadian footman along with collecting her missing dustcloth from various rooms, running errands for HM, and scraping bubblegum from Axminsters in state and banquet rooms. Private discussions with Her Majesty imaginatively picture the two intent upon conspiring to uncover meaning behind discovery of the footman on the hall floor outside HM's private apartments. Palace and local settings are descriptively portrayed; British colloquialisms add authenticity.

All is revealed, Poirot style, at a roundup of suspects with HM presiding.
Great fun, well executed read.

Definitely a series recommendation for fans of cozy mysteries and Canadian Book Challenge choice.

[Jeannie and Louis Rigod]

I have just discovered this excellent humorous murder mystery series. The Queen (Mother) is dismayed to find herself falling over the dead body of her footman. The first on the scene is housemaid, Jane Bee. The two quickly realize that it isn't suicide, as the Palace is rumoring, but murder.

Working together, Jane and the Queen, find secrets of high order. This book was an updated look at the Queen and life within Buckingham Palace.

I loved the humor and behind the scenes glimpses of daily life. The mystery was a good one also. I'm looking forward to reading the next one in the series.

[Kathie]

A fun read for a long winter day. Liked the heroine who is smart and likable. I guess it is believable that the Queen would enlist her help. The Queen was made to seem really smart which she probably is. (Although I know it is a made up character based on you know who.) There were a few too many characters to keep track of but I managed. I especially liked the map of Buck House so I could keep track of where everyone was in the story. Now I know what Mother keeps in her purse. haha

[Tiffany O.]

this book is really good!!!
i really enjoyed being in the adventure with the narrator Jane Bee because she added every detail that was needed. i loved how the author kept the readers interested by giving them a lot of suspects with perfectly good motives to kill the young Robin Tukes. for these reasons, the book became awesome.

[Carol]

A humorous murder mystery book taking place within the Buckingham Palace. The story is told by the character of
Jane Bee who is a young housemaid working in the Palace. It gave a glimpses of the daily life inside the Palace plus descriptions of the various rooms. It is a quick, fast paced, murder mystery puzzle.

[Patricia Burroughs]

I loved this book when I bought it and read it back in the day. In fact, I loved all... three of them?

And wish there had been more.

I always wondered how he got so much detail about the inner workings of the royal homes, or whether he just winged it a lot. Either way it was great fun.

[Mark]

Not exactly a classic, but a perfectly agreeable, tongue-in-cheek mystery.

[Maya]

3,5 Sterne
Dieses Buch war nicht einmal ansatzweise, was ich davon erwartet habe, aber dadurch nicht zwingend schlecht. Bei dem Untertitel "Ihre Majestät ermittelt" habe ich damit gerechnet, auch wirklich den Ermittlungen Ihrer Majestät beiwohnen zu können, und auch der Klappentext hat mich glauben lassen, dass es hauptsächlich um ihre Ermittlungen ginge, aber stattdessen ist das ganze Buch aus Sicht von Jane, die immer mal wieder ihre Erkenntnisse mit der Queen teilt. Sie arbeiten durchaus zusammen, aber es fühlt sich eher an, wie "Jane ermittelt, weil Ihre Majestät es ihr aufgetragen hat". Anfangs hat mich das ziemlich gestört, aber man gewöhnt sich schnell daran, und zum Ende hin hatte ich ziemlich Spaß an der Geschichte. Jane ist durchaus sympathisch, die Schlussfolgerungen wirken in Ordnung, und die ganze Art, wie das Buch aufgebaut ist, hat mir gefallen. Und dafür, wie ernst es ist, wirkte es gleichzeitig sehr "hell" und "einfach" auf mich. Vielleicht liegt es aber auch daran, dass ich teils das Hörbuch gehört habe, und die Sprecherin eine eher fröhliche Stimme hat, weshalb das ganze Buch dadurch ein wenig freundlicher wirkte.
An einer Stelle im Buch heißt es, dass Nikki schon öfter über ihre Vergangenheit erzählt hat, und dann später redet Jane von "erst jetzt", was doch ziemlich widersprüchlich ist (oder eventuell habe ich da doch irgendwas falsch verstanden?), aber ich glaube, das war die einzige Sache, die mir wirklich nicht schlüssig vorkam, der Rest war ziemlich solide.
Insgesamt entsprach das Buch zwar nicht meinen Erwartungen, hat nachdem es mich enttäuscht hat allerdings meine Erwartungen übertroffen, und die Figuren, Handlungen, und auch das ganze Hintergrundwissen haben sehr angenehm zusammengepasst.

[Cathryn]

I enjoyed this quirky cozy mystery. The level of respect toward Queen Elizabeth II was not quite where I am comfortable. But it was NOT mean-spirited towards her or the Royal Family, so that I was able to finish the book.

One thing which DID make me uncomfortable was the name used for a person who the MC called the "RamaLamaDingDong," introduced on page 8: "A state banquet was scheduled the following week for the RamaLamaDingDong, the KING OF SOME SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATION WHOSE REAL NAME NO ONE COULD PRONOUNCE." (my emphasis) Then that 'name' is mentioned another nine times. This book was written in 1996. This bullsh!t would never fly now in the 2000's (I'd like to think).

I think this did not (does not?) even register on the author's radar as racism because later in the book we get to hear how MC hates dusting the clock at Buckingham Palace known as the "Negress' Head Clock" and which she believes belongs banished to the basement. OK, good... Also, how her friend, Karim, "the first footman of East Indian parentage the Palace had hired" was suffering "rude comments" from coworkers and was never placed in public processions because, "Maybe some overly fussy person was concerned he didn't quite 'match,' skintone-wise." Overly fussy? Rude comments? In 1996 we knew what racism was, just call it that, please.

So, yes, I was disappointed at this contradiction. 2.5 stars - rounded up for The Queen figuratively kicking arse.

[Book Barmy (Bookbarmy.com)]

Death at Buckingham Palace starts with the Queen literally tripping over a dead body in the palace and an unlikely housemaid Jane Bee works with the Queen to uncover secrets of the highest order.

The time period is a few years after the Queen’s “annus horribilis” and before the death of Princess Diana. Lots of humor (footmen streaking naked through the palace), upstairs and downstairs drama, a film crew doing a documentary on life at the palace, and plenty of red herrings for Jane to sort through. A fun look inside the palace (there’s even a map of the layout) and tongue-in-cheek humor.

There are two more in this “Her Majesty Investigates” series – Death at Sandringham House and Death at Windsor Castle.

More at: https://www.bookbarmy.com

[Meakuel]

Wegen der Sache mit dem Straßenmusiker bleibe ich unversöhnlich. Das geht nicht und das Ende hat es auch nicht besser gemacht.
Es war etwas seltsam, das Buch kurz nach dem Tod der Queen zu lesen, die hier fiktiv auftaucht. Aber ich hatte es vorgemerkt und war jetzt an der Reihe. Wahrscheinlich ist die Zielgruppe mehr jene, die sich für die Monarchie zu begeistern wissen. Ich kann damit nichts anfangen. Unsympathische Figuren, uninteressante und vorhersehbarer Kriminalfall. Der Schreibstil hat mich auch nicht umgehauen. Für mich nichts.

[Jennifer]

It was nice to step back into the 1990s for this semi-cozy British mystery. I don't know how people are hired in Royal Palaces and I imagine the background checks are a little stiffer now. I liked Jane Bee a lot as a character and the foreshadowing was very good. I hope we see some of these characters in the rest of this series. It was appropriately twisty and turny. I am a little surprised at how much the Queen was involved.

I chose this book because I like the author's other series and I am sad it was not finished.

[David Howard]

Excellent read which I thoroughly enjoyed and will read more books by this author. Almost everyone has something to gain by Robin’s death, and the whodunnit is intriguing and thought-provoking. Excellent character development and plot. Hurray!

[Lana Kamennof-sine]

A solid cozy set in London, at Buckingham Palace and whose main character is a young woman from Charlottetown PEI Canada who becomes a maid there. There is intrigue, there is humour, and of course, there are corgis ;-)

[Alina]

Das Buch klang vielversprechend, aber mich hat es nicht ganz überzeugen können. Die Story war gut, aber der schwierige Schreibstil hat dazu geführt, dass man nicht in einen richtigen Lesefluss kommen konnte. Das war schade.

[Tommie Nicholas]

The first of three books featuring Queen Elizabeth and a housemaid, Jane Bee. A young man is found dead just outside of the queen's chambers, clutching a newspaper. An intriguing investigation follows. I just loved this book and can't wait to get into the other two books in the series.

[Koivula]

Jane and the Queen are efficient working together (secretly, of course). :)
Helmet: 10 (Kymmenes kirja jonka luet tänä vuonna), myös 1, 5, 13, 17, 19, 24, 29, 38, 41
Popsugar: 13 (a book originally published under a pen name)

[Kidlitter]

Worth it for the presiding investigative presence of the Queen, completely unremarkable otherwise. For fantasists who believe an American could work on a whim as a maid for the Royals and have the run of London aside, but it makes for a cozy read.

[Christa (haines) Sheridan]

I won't be reading more of this series. It didn't resonate with me. I think I didn't read the synopsis before starting the book, so I was expecting something historical, not set in 1996.