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

Morgan, Fidelis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688176844 ISBN 13: 9780688176846

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 2002

Synopsis

Scavenging Restoration London for scandals that can keep them afloat, the impoverished Countess Ashby and her faithful maidservant, Alpiew, stumble across a murder at a philosophy lecture hall and discover an abundance of suspects, whom they investigate with the help of Samuel Pepys.

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: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0688176844
• ISBN 13: 9780688176846
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304