Sister Beneath the Sheet - Softcover

Gillian Linscott

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0708853935 ISBN 13: 9780708853931

Publisher: Warner Futura, 1992

Synopsis

The presumed suicide of a high-class prostitute in turn-of-the-century Biarritz shakes up the upper-class world when the deceased woman, Topaz Brown, leaves her fortune to England's suffragette movement

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

The author's second turn-of-the-century novel (Murder, I Presume, 1990), set this time in Biarritz, where famed courtesan Topaz Brown has died, leaving her fortune to the Women's Social and Political Union, an embattled organization fighting for the vote for women. Nell Bray, one of its leaders, is assigned to go to Biarritz to protect the union's interests, since Topaz's brother is contesting the will, claiming his sister's suicide was the result of a deranged mind. Meanwhile, Topaz's fanatically loyal maid Tansy Mills is convinced her mistress was murdered by her chief rival, Marie de la Tourelle. Nell also becomes convinced it was murder by a series of unexplained oddities--a five-opal pendant; a cryptic note under Topaz's pillow; a missing key to her private elevator; the strange purchases she made on the eve of her last rendezvous. During her strenuous sleuthing, Nell must also keep an eye on Bobbie Fieldfare, a militant union member out for mischief. In the end, Nell's mission is completed--and justice served- -in a lively story that sometimes sags under its weight of red herrings but gracefully evokes the fervor of the suffragettes and the old-style grandeur of the rich and famous. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

YA-- Nell Bray of the Women's Social and Political Union is sent to Biarritz to uncover the mysterious affair of Topaz Brown's suicide. This charming lady of the night willed her fortune of 50,000 to the women's suffrage group just one day before her untimely death. Nell knows she and the group are suspect since Topaz hardly espoused the suffragettes' cause. Convinced Topaz was murdered, she enlists the dead woman's maid as a reluctant ally and searches for clues in lowlife dives and society mansions as well as at exotic parties and amateur dramatic performances at the popular Edwardian resort. Hampered by Tansy's almost puritanical regard for Topaz's reputation as well as the shenanigans of a sister suffragette intent on assassinating a vacationing MP, Nell struggles with locked doors, secret entrances, and missing keys, but especially with the enigmatic character of Topaz, the benefactor whose profession makes her a double victim. The unusual setting, time frame, and interesting vignettes about the struggle to obtain voting rights for women add an extra measure of delight to this witty thriller. --Mary T. Gerrity, Queen Anne School, Upper Marlboro,
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Warner Futura
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0708853935
• ISBN 13: 9780708853931
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 224