Face Down Below the Banqueting House

*Face Down Below the Banqueting House* is book eight in the Face Down mystery series featuring Elizabethan gentlewoman, herbalist, and sleuth, Susanna, Lady Appleton. In 1573, Queen Elizabeth is on a royal progress in Kent and plans to visit Susanna’s manor house, Leigh Abbey-an expensive and nerve wracking prospect for any householder. In preparation, a banqueting house is constructed in the branches of an ancient oak tree, but when a man is killed in a fall from that structure, it may be murder. Will that be enough to make the queen change her mind? Spirited and studded with wry humor *Kirkus* Emerson’s plot is deft and complex; she is at the top of her form here and leaves us with a breathless ending and lovely possibilities for future installments. *Booklist* This reprint edition has been newly edited by the author.