To Serve A Queen - Tapa blanda

The Winter Queen in exile . . .

All England is in mourning for King James; First of England and Sixth of Scotland. In the days following the monarch's demise, the new King Charles grants an audience to a young man who wishes to serve his country as a soldier. Francis Leslie is a boy when we begin our story; a man by the time it is told. On the way he battles foes, loses his heart, and faces death from all angles. All around him is scheming and political intrigue.

Steeped in historical fact, Josephine Bell's beautifully drawn and atmospheric novel takes us to the royal courts of 17th century Europe where we follow Leslie from the Palace of Whitehall, to the low lands of Holland. There, having been moved by her tragic story, he vows to serve King Charles' gentle sister, Elizabeth of Bohemia; the exiled Winter Queen.

“An imaginary historical whodunit, written in a refreshingly sparse style.” Manchester Evening News

Josephine Bell was born Doris Bell Collier in Manchester, England. Between 1910 and 1916 she studied at Godolphin School, then trained at Newnham College, Cambridge until 1919. At the University College Hospital in London she was granted M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. in 1922, and a M.B. B.S. in 1924.

Bell was a prolific author, writing forty-three novels and numerous uncollected short stories during a forty-five year period.

Many of her short stories appeared in the London Evening Standard. Using her pen name she wrote numerous detective novels beginning in 1936, and she was well-known for her medical mysteries. Her early books featured the fictional character Dr. David Wintringham who worked at Research Hospital in London as a junior assistant physician. She helped found the Crime Writers' Association in 1953 and served as chair during 1959-60.