John Rawlings, the apothecary with a talent for detective work, and John Fielding, the phenomenal blind magistrate whose Runners formed London's early police force, make a welcome return in this evocative Georgian mystery. John Rawlings is among the beau monde enjoying a performance of 'The Beggar's Opera' in Drury Lane when the leading actor - the notorious philanderer Jasper Harcross - dramatically falls to his death on stage. As Rawlings and the Blind Beak hunt for vital clues, they discover a hotbed of rivalry both on and off the stage which produces numerous suspects and questions. As the search takes on a new intensity, John Rawlings soon finds himself on an intriguing trail of obsession that leads to the dark heart of a cold-blooded murder.
- ISBN10 0340649844
- ISBN13 9780340649848
- Publish Date 31 December 1999 (first published July 1997)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 2 March 2002
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
- Imprint Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 247
- Language English