Eighteenth-century Georgian England.
The apothecary John Rawlings is working in his Piccadilly shop when a panic-stricken man rushes in seeking a place to hide.
John agrees to conceal the man from whoever is pursuing him and, soon after, an angry woman arrives demanding if the Apothecary has seen him.
John covers for the terrified man and sends the formidable woman on her way.
The stranger is Aidan Fenchurch, importer of fine wines, and the rude woman is Ariadne Bussell, his married ex-mistress.
Aidan reveals to John that he ended his affair with Mrs Bussell after he met a widow called Mrs Trewellan whom he had intended to marry.
But Ariadne is reluctant to give up the chase. So reluctant, in fact, that she has been shadowing the poor man for years.
Aidan thinks that Ariadne wants him dead. Believing he is soon to be killed, he asks the Apothecary to be custodian of some sealed documents which detail Mrs Bussell’s obsession with him.
That evening, Aidan is bludgeoned to death outside his home in Bloomsbury Square. He leaves behind three daughters: Evalina, who is in hysterics over her father’s death; the recently widowed Jocasta; and Louisa, who has eloped with a soldier.
Also in mourning is the sisters’ unmarried cousin Millicent, a sad figure whom their father had taken under his wing.
The Apothecary seeks out the famous magistrate Sir John Fielding — known as the Blind Beak.
Aidan’s damning documents against Mrs Bussell suggest that she was behind his death.
But the killing appears to have been the work of two men.
Could Aidan’s killers have been assassins hired by Mrs Bussell?
Knowing that he is neglecting his heavily-pregnant wife, John searches for answers by embarking on a journey to the Surrey countryside, where the Bussells have another home.
Here John finds familiar faces from the past waiting to greet him ...
Mrs Bussell is arrested for Aidan’s murder and it looks as if the case is closed — until she takes ill and dies, seemingly from poisoning. Shortly after her husband dies. Is another member of the Bussell family behind the growing death toll?
John must find out before the poisoner strikes again…
Praise for Deryn Lake
‘With history this colourful and a mystery this baffling, the result is delicious.’ — The Good Book Guide
‘The Queen of the Georgian historical mystery.’ — The Times
‘Meticulously researched, this is a series that brings the past to colourful life.’ — Maxim Jakubowski, The Guardian
‘Lake brings eighteenth century England to life in a fine colourful style ... Georgette Heyer ... but with the knickers off.’ — Yorkshire Post
Deryn Lake started to write stories at the age of five then graduated to novels but destroyed all her early work because, she says, it was hopeless. A chance meeting with one of the Getty family took her to Sutton Place and her first serious novel was born. Deryn was married to a journalist and writer, the late L.F. Lampitt, has two grown-up children and lives in Mayfield, Sussex, with two large cats. She is also the author of ‘Fortune’s Soldier’, ‘Sutton Place’, ‘To Sleep No More’, ‘The King’s Women’, and ‘Pour The Dark Wine’.
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