The Last Queen of England (Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery) Paperback – March 18, 2014

A delightfully engaging romp through the royal family tree. The lengthy cast of characters will prompt many readers to construct family trees to keep up with the twists and turns in the story. A must read for royal history buffs.

Talk about fast paced....this book goes at Mach speed from page one. I was so caught up in it that I stayed up all night to finish it. Who ever thought that genealogy could be so dangerous? Or 18th century Whig-Tory politics for that matter?Overweight, out of shape, and dismal in social relations, genealogist Jefferson Tayte witnesses the murder of his only friend and quickly finds himself dealing with Scotland Yard, the British Secret Service and the Royal Protection Service, plus a mysterious and so tres effete Frenchman, a psychopathic killer, and two other gunmen. There is also a republican (as in antimonarchial) politican thrown in for good measure. The plot involves the identification of a descendent of a surviving child of Queen Anne, the last Queen of England. This child supposedly secretly survived childhood, thanks to the machinations of five members of the Royal Society who were executed as traitors. The more esoteric arts of genealogy are used in trying to track down this secret, as Jeffferson and his ally, a history professor, move around London searching archives, church records, birth certificates, and gravestones. There is also a puzzling binary code which finally identifies the descent of Anne from Ethelred II as well as an anagram. Was this book entertaining? You bet. It was only after I had finished it and was able to catch a breath that I realized a number of questions had not really been answered and that there were a few implausibles. One, how could this unfit genealogist work and run almost non-stop for almost three days without sleep? Just what was the role of the antimonarchist leader and what happened at his rally? Just who was the policeman that helped the killer escape by hiding him in the boot of the policecar? How could Robinson write that last scene with the Inspector and the Frenchman? Actually, how could he have so many bodies piling up with Tayte not really reacting to all the deaths surrounding him? And how can he reason from A to D so rapidly (seeing the anagram to Ethelred II, for example)? Despite these quibbles, Robinson can really create an action packed mystery, similar to Dan Brown. He's probably already been approached by Hollywood since this would make a humdinger of a movie.

It is the third book in the series that I have read. The first one was the best. The second and third were darker and gloomier. But this specific book bore so much resemblance to the theme of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code I could almost see the same faces in these characters...The book is certainly a good page turner. It's just that this one didn't give me the feeling of something new and different.

If you love a little history with your mystery, you're going to love Steve Robinson's Genealogical Crime series. If you're also interested in family history, well that's just the icing on the cake. Robinson knows how to spin generations of begats into an edge of your seat experience.Jefferson Tayte is a genealogist who often finds himself in the UK researching his clients' family history, and you can learn a lot about the process from reading these books. (Don't grimace, it's far from being dull!) Tayte is much more forthright in his business life than he is in his personal life, and much of the reason for that stems from the fact that-- although he can seem to find all his clients' ancestors-- he's never been able to find his own parents. He can make waves when it comes to the people for whom he works, but he hangs back in his personal life. No wonder Marcus felt the need to set him up with Jean-- who turns out to be just the sort of partner he needs for this hair-raising investigation.Robinson creates the perfect genealogical puzzle with Queen Anne and her inability to produce a living heir who would continue the Stuart line on the throne of England. It's just as much fun to watch Tayte and Jean work to solve it as it is thrilling to watch them dodge bullets and traps. Who knew Queen Anne still had the power to make some people so bloodthirsty?This series continues to get better with each book. Robinson is becoming adept at blending history, characterization, and thriller-type action into an immensely enjoyable read. I'm certainly looking forward to reading book #4!

I love Steve Robinson's Jefferson Gauge mysteries. The mysteries themselves are deep and complicated, and not predictable at all. Loveable Tayte, who finds courage when it's most needed is hard not to cheer for in all his discoveries and dangerous scenarios. The best thing is the historical and genealogical aspects of the stories. I love this genre more than any other. The Last Queen of England did not disappoint! I'd love to see Robinson's books adapted for a tv series. If you want a clean book with absolutely no gratuitous content just a great story, read this, and the other Steve Robinson books. I'm so glad he's self published. So many of my favorite authors have obviously been pressured to add gratuitous profanity and other objectionable content. A really good author like this can write a satisfying and engrossing story without all that.

When a friend is murdered in broad daylight for no obvious reason, Geneaologist Jefferson Tate delves into the mystery to find out why he was murdered. Aided by a lady whom he has some affection for, and by a tough police inspector, Tate uncovers an old secret that could undermine the current royal family, and a conspiracy that could threaten their physical survival as well as their hold on the throne. Tate has to do battle against ruthless people to avert the threat. It's an interesting and well written novel and as I have an interest in history generally and in the royal family in particular, I found this a very good read. Recommended for those interested in history and thrillers.

This story is based around an overweight somewhat insecure genealogist who manages to get himself involved unwittingly in murder and mayhem. JT has arranged to meet an old colleague in London, and during the conversation he realises that he is being "set up" with a prospective date Prof Jean Summer. The description of their mutual embarrassment is beautifully handled, showing that Robinson can deal with historical detail, action-man antics and genuine emotion. When Marcus Brown is gunned down as they leave the restaurant he leaves JT with a mystery to solve which leads him and Jean, a history professor, to research the House of Stuart as someone seems to think they have a claim to the British throne. Michael Levant, an heir hunter, appears to know something about the hunt but JT doesn't trust his motives, and gradually the reason for this mistrust is developed. The characters of JT and Jean evolve as the hunt proceeds and it looks as though this pairing will work professionally and personally in following stories.As with any "What If" novel the reader is required to accept an unlikely premise for the action, but once you are prepared to work with the concept of secret messages left by some of the original members of the Royal Society; the "real reasons" behind the accession of George 1st rather than a member of the Stuart line, and a frantic "heir hunt" to track down descendants of those entrusted with the secret, you have an intelligent, well researched, action-packed story that moves apace. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.

I rarely give five stars but this book deserves more than four so four and a half stars.This book is really well written, no typos, no grammatic mistakes so a joy to read. I enjoyed the story which at times was really exciting. As I am not really into genealogy I found those sections a bit difficult to follow but I carried on regardless and managed to understand enough of it.I had purchased this book after enjoying a previous book by the same author and I have yet another one to read, which i will get to at a later date.So. Four and a half stars for this one.

I took a chance on this, and I'm glad I did.It's definitely a page-turner, and grabs your interest with a really interesting "what if..." premise, as well as a great alternative to conventional detective work.There is plenty of action, generally with a payoff which drives the story forward in some way.The characterisation was definitely not a strong point of the book for me. I felt the majority of the characters were not well drawn but are rather one-dimensional and just there as grist for the story mill - which recalls John Grisham's work, to my mind. As a result, I didn't feel I got to know any of the characters particularly well, and some of them were such stereotypical cyphers I really couldn't give a hoot what happened to them - I tend to prefer to actually care enough about the characters to engage with their story arcs. The best written character in this was DI Fable, although I began to warm to JT himself by the end. I also found some of the resourcefulness displayed by JT and is main sidekick in the story rather implausible. With JT that may be explained by the preceding novels, but not the side kick, I suspect.The story zips along with loads of energy, and there is a feeling of authenticity about the settings JT encounters as he zig-zags across London. It maybe seems strange given what I've said above, but I'm giving this 4 stars (3.5 rounded up, actually) as its supremely entertaining, and I will be happy to read the other books in this series.

I'm two thirds of the way into this book and I can take no more. It stands or falls on what the hero can discover buried in the National Archives, which does not make for an interesting paper chase. All I can tell you is that by now, you should have guessed who the arch protagonist is most likely to be and, if you haven't, then you'll never make a Hercule Poirot.