Montmorency #2: Montmorency on the Rocks: Doctor, Aristocrat, Murderer? - Hardcover

Updale, Eleanor

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439606764 ISBN 13: 9780439606769

Publisher: Orchard Books, 2005

Synopsis

Montmorency, the man leading a double life, torn between his two identities, returns in this gripping sequel.

Five years after giving up his life of crime in the sewers, Montmorency is back in London. But his evil alter ego, Scarper has returned too, pulling him back into a dark world of crime.

Montmorency's old friend and fellow government agent, Lord George Fox-Selwyn, fights to rescue him from disaster and risks calling in Montmorency's prison doctor, Robert Farcett, to help.

However, when Montmorency turns up on a Scottish Island, he finds himself caught in another web of mystery.

About this title

Review

Montmorency on the Rocks, the second volume of Eleanor Updale’s popular Victorian spy drama, finds our title hero in a much darker place than the London sewers where his alter ego Scarper used to dwell. It has been five years since Montmorency teamed up with gentleman spy George Fox-Selwyn. They enjoyed much success infiltrating the Ottoman underworld, until Montmorency acquired a treacherous taste for opium. Now addicted, he has come dangerously close to revealing his criminal past to Fox-Selwyn while under the influence. Meanwhile, the British government has called the duo home to discover the identity of a bomber who is targeting London’s landmarks. Frustrated Fox-Selwyn decides to bring Montmorency to the one person who knows the former thief better than anyone: Dr. Robert Farcett. But Farcett, who saved Montmorency before, has recently lost his nerve in the operating arena. However, in teaming up with the undercover agents, Dr. Farcett comes across a community that is losing youngsters at an appalling rate, and discovers something that just might give him reason to practice again. All of these threads come together in a brilliant climax that will leave exhilarated readers with a surprising question on the very last page.

Montmorency on the Rocks can stand on its own, but no teen reader should be denied the thrilling experience of getting to know the Victorian thief-turned-gentleman from the beginning. Adolescent Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes fans are sure to enjoy this intriguing "extreme makeover" of the traditional British mystery. (Ages 10-15) --Jennifer Hubert

About the Author

Eleanor Updale studied history at St. Anne’s College in Oxford, England, before becoming a producer of TV and radio current affairs programs for the BBC. She is studying for a Ph.D. at the new Centre for Editing Lives and Letters at Queen Mary College, University of London. She is also a trustee of the charity Listening Books. She lives in England. Montmorency is her first book.

About this edition

• Publisher: Orchard Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0439606764
• ISBN 13: 9780439606769
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368