Murder at Westminster Abbey: An Elizabethan Mystery

Carmack once again delves into the Elizabethan Age, in all its drama, treachery, and religious mania, with this richly textured second outing for court musician Kate Haywood (after 2013’s Murder at Hatfield House). In 1559, Kate, who is devoted to the recently installed Elizabeth I, puts aside her lute when Nell, a prostitute, is killed and Kate’s actor friend Rob Cartman becomes a suspect. Then another of Kate’s friends, Lady Mary Everly, who like Nell is a redhead, is murdered. No other link exists between the two crimes, but Kate worries that the redheaded queen may be in danger. Two suspects include Lady Mary’s own brother, Lord Henry, and her father, Earl Everly, who doesn’t appear particularly grief-stricken. There are political ramifications aplenty as families jockey for position, some Catholic loyalists who hate Elizabeth and the “new religion.” In Carmack’s hands, this period whodunit is deliciously detailed but never heavy-handed. Agent: Gail Fortune, Talbot Fortune Agency. (Apr.)