Book Title: The Queen’s Tears
Series: A Julia Darke Novel
Author Name: Elizabeth St.John
Publication Date: October 15, 2026
Publisher: Falcon Historical Press
Pages: 400
Genre: Dual-Timeline Historical Fiction
A stolen crown jewel and an enigmatic portrait force two women to confront the devastating choices they made for love—and summon the courage to live with the truth.
1619: Barbara, Lady Villiers, at the bidding of her brother-in-law, the Duke of Buckingham, has stolen the dying Queen Anna’s jewels—and kept the greatest prize for herself. The Queen’s Tears, a brooch of extraordinary value, torments her: too dangerous to sell, too priceless to discard, and possibly her only means of securing her children’s future. When the family fortunes are shattered, Barbara faces an impossible choice: remain loyal to Buckingham—or betray him by confessing the theft to King Charles.
Present Day: Julia Darke opens her Cotswolds bookshop to start life over peacefully. Instead, a Van Dyck portrait of Barbara’s daughter, with tantalising signs of the missing Queen’s Tears hidden in plain sight, brings her face-to-face with Oliver Villiers, the Oxford art conservator she once loved and walked away from.
Reluctantly drawn together to uncover Barbara’s secret, Julia and Oliver follow the trail of the Queen’s Tears—and the closer Julia comes to Barbara’s truth, the harder it becomes to hide from her own.
Inspired by the true stories of Queen Anna of Denmark’s stolen jewels and a missing Van Dyck painting, The Queen’s Tears weaves history, fiction, and family research across the centuries. Readers of The Lydiard Chronicles will find old favourites—and a new heroine following in their footsteps.
Buy Link:
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Author Bio:
Elizabeth St.John's acclaimed historical fiction brings to life her ancestors—remarkable women linked to England's royalty—offering unique insights into Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times. Her novels unfold not just as traditional series, but as an interlocking web of lives: The Lydiard Chronicles—including the celebrated The Lady of the Tower—The Godmother's Secret, and The King's Intelligencer explore everything from the English Civil War to the mystery of the Princes in the Tower. Her newest novel, The Queen’s Tears, a dual timeline pursuing a stolen crown jewel, reunites favourite characters from the seventeenth-century with a present-day bookstore owner heroine.
At the heart of her writing is the transformation of real ancestral histories into narratives of historical continuity. She follows threads of legacy through generations, guided as much by wills, letters, portraits, country churches, ruined castles, manor houses, and lost gardens as by imagination. Locations become constant companions through time, while characters whisper across centuries—their decisions resonating in the lives of their descendants to reveal how choices shape legacies. Grounded in historic sites like Lydiard Park and the Tower of London, her work creates a living archival flow that continues to flourish as the past yields its secrets.
Elizabeth divides her time between California, England, and the past, surrounded by books, gardens, and animals, with a slightly bewildered, ever-supportive husband beside her.
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| read an excerpt |
JULIA London
Oliver
Villiers Fine Arts was, of course, in Belgravia. Julia strode along Ebury
Street, humming, as she did when slightly anxious, after dropping her roller
bag at the Bay Tree, a Georgian-fronted boutique hotel. Too quickly, she
arrived at the gallery and, instead of pausing, marched straight in, following
the receptionist’s directions. The preview room was expensively minimalist,
with polished blond oak floors and art lighting designed to enhance the
treasures on display.
Oliver stood
under a low-voltage spot, the beam picking out the silver in his casually
tousled hair, muted across the broad shoulders of his dark brown corduroy
jacket. A soft white cotton shirt, blue jeans, and a simple fawn-coloured
cashmere scarf completed the picture of a successful, sophisticated, and
boyishly charming international art dealer.
Intentional. And memorable. He always was one
for setting a scene.
“Julia.” He
leaned slightly forward as if to kiss her cheek.
She inched
back. “Oliver.”
“You haven’t
changed a bit. You look wonderful.”
“Flattery,
Oliver? We both know that doesn’t work on me.”
He grinned
unabashedly. For a moment, the past hung between them, their history palpable.
Julia tucked her hair behind her ear and looked at him squarely, keeping one
hand in her jacket pocket to stop herself from fidgeting. He hadn’t changed a
bit either, and she’d totally underestimated the gut punch from being in the
same room as him.
Step up to it,
girl. You’ve pulverised boardrooms and glass ceilings in your time. A long-lost
love won’t crush you. Even if he broke your heart.
She finally
smiled back. It had, after all, been thirty years. “Barbara?”
“Ah. Yes. Why
you’re here.” He gestured to the easel behind him. “She’s just been brought out
of storage.”
The portrait
of Barbara St.John Villiers was three-quarter length, its colours muted and
details more concealed than Julia had anticipated.
“Oh, she’s
lovely.” Although the portrait desperately needed cleaning, the sitter’s
elegance was unmistakable.
Oliver tipped
his head at the portrait. “She is rather. She’ll be even better when she’s
freshened up. It was a quick decision by the owner, so no time to do anything
before she goes under the hammer.” He cleared his throat. “Oh well, I’ll leave
you to it.”
Julia kept her
eyes on Barbara as he walked to the back of the gallery and then stole a
glimpse as he disappeared behind a lushly carved Carolinian screen with hints
of Grinling Gibbons. She let out a breath she
didn’t know she was holding. Round one accomplished.
“Hello
Barbara,” she whispered. “I’ve come to take you home.”
The woman
stared out from the canvas with composed intelligence, her mouth neither
smiling nor severe. Courtly. Elegant. A woman painted at the height of her
value. Julia had researched a hundred like her over the years.
And yet this
one was different. Barbara called to her—
“This is
ridiculous,” Julia muttered, stepping closer. If switching from publishing to
writing meant portraits were going to start talking to her, she was in for
major sensory overload.
The label
read:
After Van
Dyck, c.1639
Portrait of a Woman
(traditionally
identified as Barbara St.John Villiers)
Oil on canvas
Traditionally
identified was academic shorthand for we don’t actually know who it is.
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| My Thoughts |
I would dearly love to know how Ms St.John consistently manages to ensure that each new release of hers turns out to be her best yet - even better than the last one! If there is a secret magic potion I wish she'd share it!
The Queen's Tears was not only a brilliant, totally absorbing read -- with a a mystery to solve alongside the three main characters, Julia, Oliver and Barbara - but was also superbly researched historical fiction, interesting art restoration detail and well, a fantastic story! I found myself nipping across to Wikipedia every so often to discover more historical fact - no spoilers - did Anne really xxx? Was Buckingham xxx? Was Barbara xxx? What happened to xxx?
And as an extra, wonderful bonus, we get to meet some familiar characters from Ms St.John's Lydiard series again ... Luce, Nan, Ned...
The duel timeline worked especially well, with seamless joins between present day and the 1600s that did not jolt this reader out of the story or create any confusion: the facts and the fiction blended together superbly, just as skillfully as an artist adds a secret clue into a painting perhaps?
This new venture with Julia Darke and Oliver Villiers is a definite winner and I'm delighted to hear that there will be more.
5 ***** stars
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