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Peter Dickinson

The Gold Dagger–winning author “outdoes himself” with this pair of “most unusual and original” mysteries set in an alternate twentieth-century British monarchy (Publishers Weekly).
 
 With two CWA Gold Dagger awards for his mystery novels and two Carnegie Medals for his children’s books, Peter Dickinson is one of the most acclaimed and beloved fiction authors in recent history. In this pair of mysteries featuring an imaginary royal family, and told from the perspective of Princess Louise—a precocious teenager and later a proud mother—Dickinson reaffirms his reputation as “one of the most versatile and inventive writers of mysteries” (Los Angeles Times).
 
King and Joker: Princess Louise is bored at Buckingham Palace before someone starts playing pranks. But when one joke really kills, the teenage princess and her father, King Victor II, stop laughing and start sleuthing in this “exceptional” mystery (Newsweek).
 
 “Wry, witty, irresistible.” —Financial Times
 
Skeleton-in-Waiting: Now a young mother, Princess Louise is on a case that takes her to Uzbekistan where a mysterious woman claims to be a Romanov royal relation. Kidnapping, conspiracy, scandal, and murder all play a part in this New York Times Notable Book, the “wonderful” follow-up to King and Joker (Financial Times).
 
 “Fast paced and enthralling as a good detective thriller should be but also a study of extraordinary social and psychological perception.” —The New York Times Book Review

Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller

The Princess Louise Mysteries

The Princess Louise Mysteries: King and Joker and Skeleton-in-Waiting

In the cavernous halls of Buckingham Palace, a series of pranks lead to murder in this mystery by CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson

 Princess Louise and her father, King Victor II of England, agree that life has become painfully dull. When she’s not in school, Louise spends her days roaming the palace and fulfilling her royal duties while her father fusses over budgets and attempts to keep his family out of the tabloids. So when a prankster begins placing frogs on the breakfast trays, Louise delights in the break from routine—as does King Victor. But this innocent mischief soon escalates into bloodshed when a body is found in the palace.
 
 In an attempt to quell his family’s panic, King Victor resolves to catch the killer. At last he has a purpose—but the palace may be in greater danger than either he or Louise suspects.

King and Joker: A Crime Novel

A New York Times Notable Book: CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson revisits his alternate British monarchy, ensnaring the imagined royal family in a dark conspiracy of kidnapping, politics, scandal, and murder 

 Britain’s beloved Princess Louise is a grown woman now, married to commoner Piers Chandler and enchanted by their infant son, Davy. While visiting a certain Mrs. Walsh—a mysterious old woman claiming to be a royal relation, a Romanov who escaped the terror of the Russian Revolution—Louise and little Davy are nearly taken captive by would-be kidnappers. Through pluck and quick thinking, Her Royal Highness avoids the unthinkable, but Mrs. Walsh is killed in the melee, leaving her secrets unspoken and her mysteries unsolved.
 
 Not easily daunted, the young princess turns to her husband for help in unraveling the tangled truth about the murdered Mrs. Walsh—a hunt that soon leads them to Tashkent, the teeming capital city of Uzbekistan, where they hope to find answers. But some doors to the past are opened only at gravest risk to life and limb—even for those of royal blood.
 
 Bringing back many of the unforgettable characters from his acclaimed King and Joker, Dickinson’s Skeleton-in-Waiting is yet another majestic thriller from a true master mystery novelist, offering further proof that this author has few equals among crime fiction royalty.

Skeleton-in-Waiting: A Crime Novel

The Princess Louise Mysteries - The book series

The Princess Louise Mysteries - The book series

The Princess Louise Mysteries books in order

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