In this thirteenth tale about Tudor widow Ursula Blanchard, we are treated to merrymaking and murder, costly gowns and secrecy. Ursula has lived at the Court of the Queen Elizabeth for some years and has undertaken acts of discreet spying to plump her purse. Now she must undertake A PERILOUS ALLIANCE.

Ursula just wants a quiet life by this point, and the Queen has granted her a fine home. But she scarcely gets time to enjoy it when a widowed suitor arrives. Politely rejected, he leaves, clearing the way for the Queen's advisors to come with another offer of marriage - to a noble Frenchman, Count Renard, which would seal an alliance between the two countries. No is again Ursula's impulse, but it's doubtful she can she make it stick.

Count Renard arrives to make himself agreeable to the comely widow, but her horsemaster discerns that he is a cruel horseman. At this time there is tension between France and Spain, and England, as the Jacobite supporters try to stir up trouble in favour of Mary Queen of Scots or a French invasion. Ursula needs to obey orders or be thought a traitor. The well-portrayed Queen Elizabeth, at Hampton Court, explains her own reasoning for not wedding - a wife may easily die in childbirth, and the Queen's death would spark civil and continental wars. Someone must marry in her stead. But back at Ursula's home, her housekeeper has mysteriously fallen downstairs and died. Does someone sinister lurk near the good Lady and the Count?

I love the atmosphere, which is easy to read and may be told from a point of privilege but is no less gritty at times. Compounding the intrigue is the fact that a young lady guest, Mistress Ambrosia Wilde, has had a match arranged for her, so when she vanishes it's assumed that she has eloped with another suitor. This sparks a lively chase through the countryside. We learn about the varieties of horses, traditional amblers being phased out and replaced with smart trotters. We also learn about warships and why a spy would want to count them. This romp is tremendous fun with pirates, slavers and other villains to up the stakes. A PERILOUS ALLIANCE is a worthy addition to the Ursula Blanchard mysteries by Fiona Buckley and will delight lovers of period crimes, with a respectful assessment of the role of women in Tudor times.