Virtual Event: S.J. Bennett in conversation with Lesa Holstine

 WHEN: March 8, 2021 @ 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm (3 PM ET) WHERE:Virtual Event, Poisoned Pen’s Facebook page.

(You do not have to have a Facebook account to watch the event. You can get to it through the Events page at http://PoisonedPen.com)

Mark your calendars. I’m so pleased that S.J. Bennett, author of the forthcoming mystery, The Windsor Knot, is going to do a virtual event for The Poisoned Pen, and I get to participate in the conversation with her. I loved this book when I read it last year. And, I had the chance to ask Sophia Bennett a few questions for a panel then, so I was eager for a longer conversation. Here are the details.

Virtual Event: S.J. Bennett discusses The Windsor Knot with guest host Lesa Holstine.

S.J. Bennett. The Windsor Knot (Harper, $27.99 unsigned copies). The first book in a highly original and delightfully clever crime series in which Queen Elizabeth II secretly solves crimes while carrying out her royal duties.

It is the early spring of 2016 and Queen Elizabeth is at Windsor Castle in advance of her 90th birthday celebrations. But the preparations are interrupted when a guest is found dead in one of the Castle bedrooms. The scene suggests the young Russian pianist strangled himself, but a badly tied knot leads MI5 to suspect foul play was involved. The Queen leaves the investigation to the professionals—until their suspicions point them in the wrong direction.

Unhappy at the mishandling of the case and concerned for her staff’s morale, the monarch decides to discreetly take matters into her own hands. With help from her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshodi, a British Nigerian and recent officer in the Royal Horse Artillery, the Queen secretly begins making inquiries. As she carries out her royal duties with her usual aplomb, no one in the Royal Household, the government, or the public knows that the resolute Elizabeth will use her keen eye, quick mind, and steady nerve to bring a murderer to justice.

SJ Bennett captures Queen Elizabeth’s voice with skill, nuance, wit, and genuine charm in this imaginative and engaging mystery that portrays Her Majesty as she’s rarely seen: kind yet worldly, decisive, shrewd, and most importantly a great judge of character.

SJ Bennett wrote several award-winning books for teenagers before turning to adult mysteries. She lives in London and has been a royal watcher for years, but is keen to stress that these are works of fiction: the Queen, to the best of her knowledge, does not secretly solve crimes. You can find her at SJBennettBooks.com

Lesa Holstine has been a library manager/administrator for over 30 years, in Ohio, Florida, Arizona, and, now, Indiana. Library Journal Reviewer of the Year 2018. Recipient of the 2018 David Thompson Memorial Special Service Award from Bouchercon Board. Winner of the 2011 Arizona Library Association Outstanding Library Service Award. She is a mystery columnist for Library Journal and Mystery Readers Journal. Author of the “Mystery Fiction” chapter in Genreflecting: A Guide to Popular Reading Interests (7th ed.) Winner of the 2009 and 2010 Spinetingler Awards for Best Reviewer.

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