Caroline the Queen

The Prince and the Quakeress

The Third George

Perdita’s Prince

Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill

Indiscretions of the Queen

The Regent’s Daughter

Goddess of the Green Room

Victoria in the Wings

THE QUEEN VICTORIA SERIES

The Captive of Kensington Palace

The Queen and Lord M

The Queen’s Husband

The Widow of Windsor

THE FERDINAND AND ISABELLA TRILOGY

Castille for Isabella

Spain for the Sovereigns

Daughter of Spain

THE LUCREZIA BORGIA SERIES

Madonna of the Seven Hills

Light on Lucrezia

THE MEDICI TRILOGY

Madame Serpent

The Italian Woman

Queen Jezebel

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION SERIES

Louis the Well-Beloved

Flaunting, Extravagant Queen

The Road to Compienge

Myself, My Enemy

Evergreen Gallant

The Goldsmith’s Wife

Beyond the Blue Mountains

Defenders of the Faith

The Scarlet Cloak

Daughter of Satan

Copyright 1949, 1972 by Jean Plaidy

Reader’s Guide copyright 2006 by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. The excerpt is from The Courts of Love, copyright 1987 by Jean Plaidy.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

www.crownpublishing.com

THREE RIVERS PRESS and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Originally published in Great Britain by Robert Hale, London, in 1949, and subsequently in the United States by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, in 1973.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Plaidy, Jean, 1906–1993

Murder most royal / Jean Plaidy.

Includes reader’s guide.

1. Anne Boleyn, Queen, consort of Henry VIII, King of England, 1507–1536—Fiction. 2. Catherine Howard, Queen, consort of Henry VIII, King of England, d. 1542—Fiction. 3. Great Britain—History—Henry VIII, 1509–1547—Fiction. 4. Henry VIII, King of England, 1491–1547—Fiction. 5. Queens—Great Britain—

Fiction. I. Title.

PR6015.I3M77 2006

823'.914—dc222005008992

eISBN: 978-0-307-34539-4

v3.0