A Countess Ashby de la Zouche mystery
4 primary works
Book 1
The first in a hugely entertaining, vivid, colourful and fascinating crime series featuring a down-at-heel countess and her maid on the loose in late Restoration London. London 1699. Anastasia Ashby de la Zouche, Baroness Penge, Countess of Clapham, former mistress to Charles II, is an aristocrat on her uppers. Cast into the notorious Fleet Prison by the bum-bailiffs, she is forced to turn to journalism: ferreting out scurrilous tit-bits for a scandal sheet. But the Countess and her maidservant Alpiew encounter more intrigue than they bargained for when a mysterious woman hires them to follow her husband, Beau, whom she suspects of adultery. Their pursuit of Beau leads them to playhouses, scientific lectures, coffee houses, the half-constructed St Paul's Cathedral and dives of Alsatia, only to end abruptly in a Covent Garden churchyard -- leaving the Countess and Alpiew implicated in a murder. And worse is to follow, for to unravel their only clue they must penetrate the mysteries of alchemy. Unnatural Fire is a wonderfully funny, lively, audacious novel with a cast of characters that leap off the page.
But underlying the vivacity and humour is a riveting mystery which perfectly captures the darker side of London at the turn of the 18th century.
But underlying the vivacity and humour is a riveting mystery which perfectly captures the darker side of London at the turn of the 18th century.
Book 2
The sequel to Fidelis Morgan's hugely entertaining debut, UNNATURAL FIRE, again featuring the irrepressible Countess Ashby de la Zouche and her stupendously bosomed former maid, Alpiew, on the trail of murder and mayhem in early 18th-century London Once again Anastasia Ashby de la Zouche, Baroness Penge, Countess of Clapham, former mistress to Charles II, finds herself embroiled in the darker side of 18th century London. The Rival Queens is a tale of actresses, syphilis, juvenile delinquency, artifice, hot drinks and murder...not to mention The Passions and the doings of Samuel Pepys.
Book 3
Next in Fidelis Morgan's hugely entertaining series featuring the irrepressible Countess Ashby de la Zouche and her stupendously bosomed former maid, Alpiew The Countess Ashby de la Zouche would not be every parent's choice of chaperone for a beautiful teenager, and still fewer would entrust her with finding the girl a suitable husband - in France, of all places. The second Mrs Alderman Franklyn-Green, however, is willing to go to any lengths to get rid of her unwanted stepdaughter Virginia. And the promise of 100 guineas and a sojourn in the land of gay balls and all-night gambling is sufficient to secure the Countess's services, even if the girl is a complete shrew. Sadly, the exiled English Court at St Germain is far from the den of iniquity the Countess and her maidservant Alpiew were hoping for. Worse, any hopes of enjoying fine French cuisine are dashed when a fellow guest is poisoned.
Once more the Countess and Alpiew are plunged into a dangerous investigation In addition to unravelling plots against three kings and negotiating the culinary eccentricities of the Court of Versailles, our sleuths encounter the Bastille's most mysterious prisoner, and discover - among other depravities - the peculiar employment Lord Whippingham has devised for young women with strong teeth.
Once more the Countess and Alpiew are plunged into a dangerous investigation In addition to unravelling plots against three kings and negotiating the culinary eccentricities of the Court of Versailles, our sleuths encounter the Bastille's most mysterious prisoner, and discover - among other depravities - the peculiar employment Lord Whippingham has devised for young women with strong teeth.
Book 4
Fourth in Fidelis Morgan's hugely entertaining series featuring the irrepressible Countess Ashby de la Zouche and her stupendously bosomed former maid, Alpiew Unlikely as it may seem, the Countess finds herself with cash to spare. Unlikelier still, she decides to do the sensible thing and invest it, caught up in London society's new craze for stocks and shares. Overnight, fortunes are being made, wealth amassed from nothing in a frenzy of speculation. And with these new-found riches anything can be bought: commodities, monkeys!even people. But as the Countess and Alpiew learn to their cost, investments can go down as well as up -- helped along by a little embezzlement from those bastions of respectability, bankers and brokers. Soon banking leads to begging, burglary, and strange bedfellows -- including an aspiring novelist with a grievance and a hirsute dwarf of astounding agility.