The Widows Guild: A Francis Bacon Mystery - Softcover

Castle, Anna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0991602587 ISBN 13: 9780991602582

Publisher: Anna Castle, 2015

Synopsis

London, 1588. Someone’s turning Catholics into widows... ... and masking the crimes under cover of Armada fever. Francis Bacon is charged with identifying the murderer by the Andromache Society, a widows’ guild led by his formidable aunt. Thomas Clarady and Lady Alice Trumpington help investigate while struggling to keep themselves out of hot water. Bacon must free his friends from the Tower, track an exotic poison, and untangle several crimes to determine if the motive is patriotism, greed, lunacy — or a mix of all three. Longlisted for the 2017 Historical Novel Society Awards. Get this third thrilling tale in the award-winning Francis Bacon historical mystery series today!

About this title

From the Author

Brilliant Francis Bacon solves crimes in Elizabethan London with his ambitious assistant, Thomas Clarady, in this series of award-winning historical mysteries.

1. Murder by Misrule. One of Kirkus Review's Best Indie Books of 2014.
2. Death by Disputation. First In Category, 2015 Chaucer Awards Elizabethan/Tudor period
3. The Widows Guild. Long-listed for the 2017 Historical Novel Society Awards.
4. Publish and Perish.Honorable Mention, Mysteries, Library Journal's 2017 Indie Ebook Awards. 5. Let Slipthe Dogs. Bacon and co. spend the summer at Richmond Palace in 1592.
6. The Spymaster's Brother. Francis's older brother Anthony comeshome from France.

From the Back Cover

In the summer of 1588, Europe waits with bated breath for King Philip of Spain to launch his mighty armada against England. Everyone except Lady Alice Trumpington, whose father wants her wed to the highest bidder. She doesn't want to be a wife, she wants to be widow; a rich one, and the sooner, the better. So she marries an elderly viscount, gives him a sleeping  draught, and spends her wedding night with Thomas Clarady, her best friend and Francis Bacon's assistant. The next morning, they find the viscount murdered in his bed and they're both locked into the Tower.
 
Lady Alice appeals to the Andromache Society, the widows' guild led by Francis Bacon's formidable aunt, Lady Russell. They charge Bacon with getting the new widow out of prison and identifying the real murderer. He soon learns the viscount wasn't an isolated case. Someone is murdering Catholics in London and taking advantage of armada fever to mask the crimes. The killer seems to have privy information -- from someone close to the Privy Council?
 
The investigation takes Francis from the mansions along the Strand to the rack room under the Tower. Pulled and pecked by a coven of demanding widows, Francis struggles to maintain his reason and his courage to see through the fog of war and catch the killer.

Edition details

• Publisher: Anna Castle
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0991602587
• ISBN 13: 9780991602582
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 343