The Specimen - Softcover

Lea, Martha

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1471325830 ISBN 13: 9781471325830

Publisher: Paragon

Synopsis

The year is 1866. Edward Scales is a businessman, a butterfly collector, a respectable man. He is the man Gwen Carrick fell in love with seven years before. Now he is dead and Gwen is on trial for his murder. Set in a Victorian world battling between the forces of spiritualism and Darwinism, polite society and the call of clandestine love, Gwen and Edward's tale is a gripping melodrama, a romance, and a murder mystery that will compel readers to its final thrilling page.

About this title

About the Author

Martha Lea was born in Leicester in 1970 and has a BA in Fine Art from Falmouth School of Art & Design. The Specimen is her first novel.

Review

* This genre-defying novel mixes romance with high drama, science, feminism and old-fashioned murder mystery and intrigues, and surprises right up to the last page -- Kate Saunders The Times * Martha Lea uses language beautifully to evoke a sense of place as we move between Cornwall and Brazil, and there are many twists to keep the reader intrigued right to the very end -- Sheila Wright We Love This Book * Lea's intricate plot takes full advantage of the tropes of Victorian melodrama: Askew sexuality, off-kilter music-hall characters, clandestine relationships, repression, madness, a criminal trial and, yes, a bearded lady Marie Claire * An impressive first novel in a burgeoning Vic Lit subgenre of crime fiction Literary Review 20130301 * Assured and accomplished ... this is a rich, deep, rewarding read The Age

About this edition

• Publisher: Paragon
• ISBN 10: 1471325830
• ISBN 13: 9781471325830
• Binding: Paperback