Unnatural Fire
2000
First Published
3.58
Average Rating
368
Number of Pages
Part of Series
Restoration London, 1699 — Anastasia Ashby de la Zouche, Baroness Penge, Countess of Clapham, and former mistress to King Charles II, has astonishingly been jailed in debtors' prison. Joining forces with her loyal ex-maidservant, Alpiew, the formerly pampered and proper Countess sets out to make a living by working for the scandal sheets—a line of work that inevitably leads her through some of the seamier byways of the city. She and Alpiew find a welcome additional source of income when they are approached by a stranger who asks them to gather evidence to prove her husband is committing adultery. But the uncomfortable job of trailing after the handsome merchant in the depths of winter ends abruptly in a Covent Garden churchyard with a brutal murder. Implicated in the crime, the Countess and Alpiew find themselves drawn into a complex labyrinth of deceit, violence, and the mysterious world of alchemy. And the more they investigate, the more complex the picture becomes, involving everyone from the most decrepit back-alley criminals to some of the most influential people in all the land.
Avg Rating
3.58
Number of Ratings
398
5 STARS
21%
4 STARS
35%
3 STARS
30%
2 STARS
9%
1 STARS
5%
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Author
Fidelis Morgan
Author · 7 books
Actor, writer, director and historian, Fidelis Morgan is the author of a series of mystery novels featuring the Countess Ashby dela Zouche and a cast of outrageous characters. The books have been described as ‘A 17th century Armistead Maupin’, ‘Flashman for Girls’ ‘A bawdy PG Wodehouse’ and ‘Cagney and Lacey in Corsets.’ She has published many influential non-fiction works, mainly about the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Her latest suspense novel, The Murder Quadrille, is a modern day mystery. It is available as an eBook
