'There are three things that grow in March Mire,' said the aunt, in a silly sing-song voice, her eyes half closed, 'and that grow nowhere else together, and seldom anywhere. Find them in one spot, take them and make them up. From them comes this dew. Oh Louisa. Listen carefully. This stuff grants the gift of death.' Louisa widened her eyes but she was not actually impressed. Death was everywhere in the mire and especially often in her aunt's nasty bottles. 'Listen,' said the aunt again, 'the poison in this bottle leaves no trace as it kills. In the world beyond the mire this can mean much. I've told you, there are towns along the moors, and great houses piled up with money and jewels. If every cobweb on that ceiling was changed to bank notes it would be nothing to them... We'll seek for just such a rich place. Then I'll know how to go on. You shall pretend to be a lost lady, as I've trained you. You'll do as I say, and our fortunes will be made.' 'But how, Aunt?' 'They'll fall in love, and make over their goods through wills, which I've told you of. And then I'll see them off...' Thus begins Louisa's strange journey into the world beyond the mire, armed only with her striking beauty, her perfect manners, and her aunt's deadly poison. A thrilling historical fantasy! from inside front flap
Author
Tanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7." Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress. Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971. Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing. Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror. Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s. Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.
