Death On The Royal Yacht by S. J. Bennett

 

The Queen is touring the West Indies aboard Britannia when a body is discovered in one of the cabins. Initially, it is suspected that it was an accidental overdose. However, the Queen and Joan McGraw, her Assistant Private Secretary, aren't so sure and set out to uncover what really happened.

Death On The Royal Yacht by S. J. Bennett is the sixth book in the 'Her Majesty The Queen Investigates' cosy crime series. The first three books in the series focus on Queen Elizabeth II during the later years of her reign, while books 4, 5, and 6 feature a much younger Queen. You can find reviews of all of the books in the series here on my blog.

The action takes place during a royal tour of the West Indies in 1966. This tour actually took place, so it is great to see fact and fiction woven together. The first thing that really strikes you is how much organisation is involved in a tour of this nature, and that, despite a hectic schedule, the Queen still kept up to date with everything that was happening back at home (long before the days of email and the internet).

Onboard Britannia are a mixture of household staff and crew. The one thing that comes across very clearly is how devoted everyone is to the Queen, and it is obvious that she holds them all in high regard. It is, therefore, quite a shock for the Queen to consider that someone on board may be supplying drugs. 

Life on board Britannia comes across as very glamorous, in spite of how 'homely' the state rooms are described. Tours around various islands, alongside events hosted on Britannia, highlight how elegant and prestigious everything is. Despite all of this, you also get a clear indication of how exhausting the work is: for the staff who are on call at a moment's notice, and for the Queen whose life is split in to five minute slots.  

I loved the way that the Queen manipulates everyone, with the aid of Joan, so that it doesn't look like she is controlling the investigation. While I thought the villain was obvious from the outset, I did enjoy the way that the events surrounding the death were slowly revealed. For me, however, the most important element of the storyline was the dilemma that Joan had to deal with.

Death On The Royal Yacht by S. J. Bennett will be published on 15th October 2026 in hardback, ebook, and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Zaffre for a review copy.

Author Details

SJ Bennett was born in Yorkshire and travelled the world as an army child. She had a varied career before her first novel was published when she was 42. Since then, her books have won awards, been optioned for TV, and have been translated into over 20 languages.

She was once asked to interview for the role of Assistant Private Secretary to the Queen and still considers it the job that got away. A curious royal watcher for many years, she lives in London, where she can often be found haunting its palaces, museums, galleries and libraries. She currently writes the ‘Her Majesty the Queen Investigates’ series.