Lady of ashes

Lady of ashes

Christine Trent

Book - 2013

In 1861 London, Violet Morgan is struggling to establish a good reputation for the undertaking business that her husband has largely abandoned. She provides comfort for the grieving, advises them on funeral fashion and etiquette, and arranges funerals. Unbeknownst to his wife, Graham, who has nursed a hatred of America since his grandfather soldiered for Great Britain in the War of 1812, becomes involved in a scheme to sell arms to the South. Meanwhile, Violet receives the commission of a lifetime: undertaking the funeral for a friend of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. But her position remains precarious, especially when Graham disappears and she begins investigating a series of deaths among the poor. And the closer she gets to the truth,... the greater the danger for them both.

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Subjects
Women > Fiction.
Undertakers and undertaking > Fiction.
Murder > Fiction.
London (England) > Fiction.
Mystery fiction.
Genres
Mystery fiction
Published
New York : Kensington Books [2013]
Language
English
Main Author
Christine Trent (author)
Item Description
Includes reading group guide and discussion questions.
Physical Description
viii, 420 pages ; 21 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 415-416).
ISBN
9780758265913
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

A most unusual heroine-an undertaker in 1860s London-drives this capable first in a new series from historical fiction author Trent (By the King's Design). Violet Morgan and her husband, Graham, of whose prosperous funeral business she's the backbone, quarrel after Violet takes in an abandoned orphan. Her indifferent housekeeping also puts a strain on the marriage. When Graham is caught smuggling goods to Civil War-torn America, he must flee England. Meanwhile, Violet notices puzzling causes of death among the corpses she lays out. As her queries in these unusual cases unwittingly alarm a serial killer, she finds unexpected support from Prince Albert, Queen Victoria, and Samuel Harper "of the Confederate States of America," a "Buyer of Special Goods." That the murders play a minimal role in the story may disappoint mystery readers, but the author's painstaking research offers a tale rich with historical incidents and details that period lovers relish. Romance gives the book most of its tension. Agent: Helen Breitwieser, Cornerstone Literary. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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