Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel

Book I of a series
Genre: Mystery
Story Takes Place: London, 1716
Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published Date: November 5, 2013
Pages 368
Reader: 12 years and up
ISBN: 9780544074118 hardcover
ISBN: 9780544073753 e-book

Something About the Author:  Sarah Zettel was born in Sacramento, California and presently lives in Michigan. She published her first short story in 1988 and has been writing ever since.  She is an award-winning mystery, romance, science fiction and fantasy writer.

Something About the Book:  Peggy Fiztroy has been turned out of her Uncle’s house because she refused to marry the man that her uncle chose for her to marry.  His ultimatum was either you marry him or you are out of this house.  Peggy was an orphan and had no other family to go to.  He turned her out with nothing but the clothes on her back.  Her cousin, Olivia, whom she dearly loved, tried to have her returned, but her father would not allow it.  Peggy did the only thing she could do.  She retrieved from her pocket the scrap of paper with an address written on it.  It was given to her the day before by a gentleman who told her that he had known her mother and had respected her.  He also offered her a job of sorts if she were interested. She declined him, yet he also said that anything he could do to help her, she need only to call upon him.  And it looked like she needed his help now.

Peggy finds herself pulled into a scheme that she must impersonate a lady in waiting, who suddenly took sick and died, in the court of King George I. She is surrounded by intrigue everywhere she goes and doesn’t know who is friend or foe.  Can only her wits and intelligence be able to save her from the same fate as the woman she is impersonating? Who can she trust?

Review:  Sarah Zettel wrote a believable mystery and was highly entertaining.  The ratcheting up of intrigue kept me on the edge of my chair! And there were several points it got a chuckle out of me, too. As a reader, I was swept up into the story on the first page.

Her characters are flawlessly developed showing both their strengths and weaknesses.  Even though the story can be read by a 12 year old, it was written to captivate all readers who like a good mystery. It kept me turning pages and asking what will happen next.  I never guessed who the villain(s) was/were.   An extremely nice read and I will definitely take a look at her other work.  Her book will be published and available on November 5, 2013

Cover is courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company