The Rival Queens: A Novel of Murder in Eighteenth-Century London - Softcover

Morgan, Fidelis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060522062 ISBN 13: 9780060522063

Publisher: Harper Paperbacks, 2003

Synopsis

Pub Date: 2003-11-11 Pages: 352 Language: eng Publisher: Harper Paperbacks London 1700. The intrepid and impecunious heroines Countess Ashby de la Zouche and her maidservant. Alpiew. are scavenging for scandal for that scurrilous rag. the London Trumpet. With the bailiffs. as ever. in hot pursuit. the Countess and Alpiew escape to a philosophical lecture at the York Buildings concert hall. But their dull evening is confounded when one player staggers onto the stage. hands dripping with blood. A doyenne has been ! decapitated under their very noses The unlikely sleuths find an abundance of suspects:. players. fanatics. a Punch-and-Judy man - not to mention a painter with a silver proboscis They pursue their quarry from the Tower of London to Bedlam. with a brief detour to the wilds of Wapping. uncovering a shocking web of intrigue and corruption extending to the highest echel...

About this title

Review:

‘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

From the Back Cover:

"A perfect menu of historical crime and mystery"
'Guardian'

It's 1699 and those intrepid heroines the Countess Ashby de la Zouche and her maidservant Alpiew are once more scavenging for scandal for that scurrilous rag, the 'London Trumpet'. But with the bailiffs in hot pursuit they are reduced to seeking refuge at a concert hall. No sooner have they settled down for an evening of tedium than one of the players staggers onto the stage, her hands dripping with blood – a doyenne has been decapitated under their very noses.

The unlikely sleuths find themselves with an abundance of suspects: players, ruffians in pink ribbons, a Punch and Judy man – not to mention a painter with a silver proboscis. Their pursuit of the culprit takes them from the Tower of London to Bedlam, with a brief detour via the wilds of Wapping. With a little help from Pepys and a lot of laughs and mayhem along the way, they uncover a web of corruption that extends to the highest echelons of society.

"Colourful turns of phrase and witty descriptions – like a bawdy P.G. Wodehouse – leave you with a keen sense of the period"
'Daily Mail'

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0060522062
• ISBN 13: 9780060522063
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352