The Rival Queens: A Novel of Artifice, Gunpowder and Murder in Eighteenth-Century London - Couverture rigide

Morgan, Fidelis

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0688176844 ISBN 13 : 9780688176846

Editeur : William Morrow, 2002

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Restoration London, 1700. Those intrepid and destitute heroines the Countess Ashby de la Zouche and her maidservant Alpiew -- whose most recent caper involved trying to uncover an adulterer and accidentally unearthing a plot involving corruption, alchemy, transvestitism, treason and murder -- are once more scavenging for scandal to entertain the readers of that scurrilous rag the London Trumpet. With the tireless bailiffs hot on their skirt tails, the Countess and Alpiew are reduced to seeking refuge in a philosophical lecture at the York Buildings concert hall. But their expectations of a dull evening are confounded when one of the players staggers onto the stage, her hands dripping with blood. A doyenne has been decapitated under their very noses!

In the resulting chaos the unlikely sleuths find themselves with an abundance of suspects: players, phanatiques, punks, ruffians in pink ribbons, a Punch-and-Judy man -- not to mention a painter with a silver proboscis. Determined to leave no stone unturned, they relentlessly pursue their suspect from the Tower of London to Bedlam, with a brief detour to the wilds of Wapping. Along the way they uncover -- with a little help from Samuel Pepys -- a vast web of intrigue and corruption that extends into the highest echelons of both society and the judiciary.

Building upon her beguiling first novel, Unnatural Fire, Fidelis Morgan once again weaves a fabulous romp through London's darker and seamier side, with a charged historical mystery that is as darkly funny as it is gripping and entertaining. An unforgettable story of murder and mayhem, The Rival Queens is a wonderfully complex and revealing portrait of London at the dawn of the eighteenth century.

Revue de presse

Fidelis Morgan s tale of love and greed and alchemy in 1699 is a heady compound of wit, wisdom and wildness. It s an unsentimental warts-and-all portrait that reeks of authenticity, written with a brio that reflects the age
Val McDermid

Hilarious 17th century romp, which combines an authentic slice of history with a tantalising storyline. An authority on the era, Morgan has created an inventive book which wears its learning lightly. Colourful turns of phrase and witty descriptions like a bawdy P.G. Wodehouse leave you with a keen sense of the period Daily Mail

A lusty, audacious historical romp ...all the bawdiness of London at the turn of the 18th century is brought to life Maxim Jakubowski, Guardian

Thigh-slapping, exclamatory stuff ... loudly, lustily, enthusiastically done Literary Review

The perfect autumn read Marie Claire

--Marie Claire

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: William Morrow
• Date d'édition: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0688176844
• ISBN 13: 9780688176846
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 352