Books by Grace Cavendish

There's a new arrival - a mysterious and exotic young princess - at court and Lady Grace can't believe how many rumours there are about her already. The exiled Banoo Yasmine from Sharakand is a beautiful girl with a pet panther and - everyone believes - magical powers. Yasmine also possesses the renowned Heart of Kings Ruby - a huge stone that she wears around her neck to balls and feasts, that legend says has the power to make kings. When the famed jewel goes missing, the finger is pointed at Grace's dear friend Ellie the laundrymaid. Grace must prove her friend's innocence, find the true thief and restore the stone to its rightful owner.

When the crown jewels are stolen from a locked room in the castle right under Queen Elizabeth's nose - she's furious and asks Grace, her secret Lady Pursuivant, to investigate. This is the toughest mystery Grace has had to solve yet. The thief must be amongst them in the palace . . . Can Grace figure out their identity before it's too late?

When the Court clockmaker, Mr Urseau, is found dead in his workshop - a dagger in his chest and a key clutched in his hand - rumours start flying. But things get even more complicated when Grace discovers that a mysterious clock was delivered to the palace on the day Urseau was killed . . .

It's the height of summer and the palace is full of ambassadors and ladies from the Spanish court. When a visit to the famous St Bartholomew's fair is planned to entertain the guests, Grace jumps at the chance to get out for the day. Not everybody feels the same though and there's a lot of superstision amongst the ladies about the gypsies, fortune tellers and herbal medicine that will be at the fair. When a mysterious fire at the fair leaves Lady Sarah injured and a gypsy woman dead, it seems the ladies were right to be worried. But was the fire started on purpose? And can Grace get to the bottom of this mystery?

A PUZZLE ON THE STAGE!A new play: Intrigue, is just about to open in Whitehall. The play includes a very clever, convincing death scene, and Queen Elizabeth is desperate to see it before the rest of her country. But when the Queen and her court go to watch, the death scene is far too convincing - in fact, it's real! Richard Fitzgrey is murdered in front of the Queen!Leaf through the pages of the daybooke of Lady Grace, favourite Maid of Honour of Queen Elizabeth I, and enter a theatrical world full of mystery . . .

Preparations for the wedding of one of Lady Grace's fellow Maids of Honour are interrupted when a shipment of gold, on its way to the Queen, is stolen! The culprit is a single masked horseman, all in black - or is it a gang of ruffians from the forest? The clues seem to point in several different directions and Grace, as Queen Elizabeth's trusty secret Lady Pursuivant, can't make head or tail of them. Could one of the newcomers to court be involved? And will Grace be able to help recover the fortune?

The Queen and her Maids of Honour are spending the summer at a nobleman's estate, where a new manor house is being built. But the work has to stop when a mysterious spook appears. Could the ghost of a murdered Earl be haunting the site of his death? Grace begins to investigate and finds that there are many rumours about the ghost - and uncovering the truth could be dangerous . . .

Queen Elizabeth is furious at the delays to the production of her new coin - and so Lady Grace and her fellow Maids of Honour escape her bad temper and set off to skate on the frozen Thames. But their outing turns sour when a body is discovered on the banks - a man blindfolded with coins on his eyes. Grace is sure something odd is going on and decides that, as the Queen's Lady Pursuivant, she should be the one to investigate. Along with her friends Ellie the laundrymaid and Masou the acrobat, she delves deep into a dangerous world of counterfeiting and corruption.

Lady Grace and her fellow Maids of Honour are travelling with the Queen and the rest of the court on their summer Progress. It should be lots of fun but Grace can't help worrying about a series of accidents that have befallen the Queen. Was it just coincidence that she fell off her horse in the same day that a statue tumbled in the garden and almost hit her? Grace, the Queen's Lady Pursuivant, investigates just who could be behind these accidents - is there a conspiracy at work? Could the Queen's one true Love, the Earl of Leicester, be involved, or perhaps her trusted adviser, Lord Cecil. And surely her latest suitor, the dashing Swedish prince, wouldn't be attempting to murder his potential bride? Another fantastic romp through Elizabethan England, with the indomitable Grace at the fore.

In the court of Queen Elizabeth I, Maid of Honour Lady Grace, the Queen's favourite and her very own Lady Pursuivant, investigating intrigues at court. When Grace's fellow Maid of Honour, Lady Sarah, disappears after a trip to meet the Queen's fleet in the docks, Grace knows she has to find out what's going on. She believes Sarah has run away to be married to the handsome Captain Drake - but is she right? With the help of her acrobat friend Masou, Grace leaves the court in disguise in an attempt to track down Lady Sarah and try to save her honour. But this time Grace may be taking on more than she can cope with, as she faces life at sea, and the dangers of pirates! Will Grace and Masou ever return from their ill-fated voyage?

Since the death of her beloved mother, Lady Grace has become the Queen's favourite Maid of Honour. But even favourites have to obey the Queen's wishes - and the Queen wants Grace to be married. Choosing between her suitors - kindly old Sir Charles, flashy Sir Gerald and sweet, anxious Lord Robert - is easy for Grace: she doesn't want to marry any of them! When Gerald is found dead after the ball at which Grace should have picked her favourite suitor, suspicion falls on Lord Robert. But Grace has noticed that Sir Charles has been acting strangely - and that there is something odd about the body. With her friends Ellie the maid and Masou the acrobat, Lady Grace sets out to discover what really went on that night.

There is much excitement at court as the famous painter Levina Teerlimc arrives to paint the Queen's portrait. The Maids of Honour are recruited to help entertain the Queen during the sittings, and to pose for the painter whilst the Queen is busy. They love being in the studio but have to beware as deadly arsenic is used in one of the paints!One of Lady Grace's fellow Maids of Honour, Carmina, begins to act rather strangely - she seems confused and always tired. Her family has recently been involved in a feud with another noble family after her father was killed in a jousting tournament - is it possible that Carmina is being poisoned? Could the painter or her assistant be involved? Can Grace solve the mystery and discover the truth behind the strange happenings at Court?