Royal Gambit - Hardcover

by Daniel O'Malley (Author)

A delightful and hilarious supernatural adventure featuring a lady-in-waiting who must keep the court safe from murder, from the author of The Rook.

Alexandra Dennis-Palmer-Hudson-Gilmore-Garnsey (call me "Alix"), the twelfth Lady Mondegreen, has never had any control of her life. Her ability to shatter bones with a touch made her the automatic property of the Checquy, the secret British government agency that deals with the supernatural. Her aristocratic ancestry made Alix the perfect asset for the Checquy to deploy close to the royal family. Since childhood, she has been coached to befriend Princess Louise, second in line to the throne, but the two have never been close. Now, Alix is a skilled operative who investigates unexplained phenomena for the security of the nation.

Everything changes when Louise's brother, the Prince of Wales, dies abruptly and all signs point to an assassination by preternatural means. To protect Louise, the new heir apparent, Alix is assigned to be her lady-in-waiting. Thrust into the limelight overnight--both in the everyday world and in the underground world of the Checquy--Alix must juggle her responsibilities and her loyalties as she attempts to unravel the murder, keep Louise safe, and learn how to smile graciously while eerie threats loom around every corner.

Author Biography

Daniel O'Malley was born and raised in Canberra, Australia. He graduated from Michigan State University and earned a master's degree in medieval history from Ohio State University. He then returned to his childhood home, where he now works full-time as a writer. He is the author of the Checquy novels, The Rook, Stiletto, and Blitz, the first of which won an Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and became a television miniseries.