On September 8, 1560 Amy Robsart is found dead at the foot of a staircase. Was it an accident, murder or even suicide? Fast spread the rumor that her husband Robert Dudley had them killed in order to marry Queen Elizabeth I can, with which it is closely linked since teenage years. This suspicion brings not only but also Robert Elizabeth in danger on the throne even after less than two years the process of consolidating their position. So both are keen to quickly find out the truth about Amy's death. Tanja Kinkel rolls the historically documented scandal involving Amy Robsarts mysterious death on new and tells how it could have been. The novel takes place in a single week after Amy's death and is told from the perspective of two characters who are mentioned in history only in passing: On the one hand Thomas Blount, a close friend and confidant of Robert Dudley, who in the disaster site Oxfordshire traveling to elucidate the fatal fall down the stairs. On the other hand Kat Ashley, the governess of the queen, who sent their spies. But both are emotionally closely involved in the case, as it seems to go to the outside. Skillfully draws Kinkel the threads in this intrigue of love, jealousy, revenge and power and adheres closely to the historical facts, which are researched dazzling. The reader gets an interesting insight into the early years of Elizabeth's reign, even if the queen is really only a minor character in the novel. At the end of the book you will find the genealogies of the three participating families and an afterword by the author, in which they would again refer to their sources. A superbly written, atmospherically dense and thrilling to be read historical novel, is to be recommended not only fans of the Elizabethan age. - Alexandra Plath