Blood for Blood - Hardcover

Rizzolo, S. K.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1590580540 ISBN 13: 9781590580547

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Pr, 2003

Synopsis

In the spring of 1812, the Luddites are on the march, Lord Byron is taking London drawing rooms by storm, and Penelope Wolfe has become a lady's companion. When one of the footmen turns up dead with a knife to the heart, Penelope and Bow Street Runner John Chase are entangled in a web of family secrets and political conspiracy that stretches far beyond luxurious St. James's Square. With the help of barrister Edward Buckler, Chase follows the trail of a mysterious mad woman caught peeping in the window at the corpse. Penelope struggles to fit into the fashionable world, encountering people who hide resentment and deceit under smooth smiles. Set against a backdrop of millennial fervor with thousands awaiting the end of the world, BLOOD FOR BLOOD explores the simple truth that every drop of blood spilled will be avenged.

About this title

About the Author

S.K. Rizzolo earned an MA in literature before becoming a high school English teacher and writer. Her Regency mystery series features a trio of crime-solving friends: a Bow Street Runner, an unconventional lady, and a melancholic barrister. Rizzolo lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

In this engrossing sequel to Rizzolo's well-received Regency debut, The Rose in the Wheel (2002), John Chase, a Bow Street Runner (a pre-Victorian constable), and Penelope Wolfe, his accomplished assistant, investigate the fatal stabbing of a footman. Found in the back garden of the luxurious London home where Wolfe is serving as a lady's companion, the victim uses his last breath to quote an apocalyptic passage from the biblical Book of Joel. Rumors that the footman led a double life enmesh the pair in political intrigue surrounding the rise of the Luddite movement and the concomitant weakening of the Crown in the face of increasing class conflict and economic hardship. This tense atmosphere is only exacerbated by the cult surrounding pregnant Rebecca Barnwell, a self-proclaimed prophetess, whose followers believe is bearing the Messiah, and who has shown a mysterious interest in the servant's murder. The different circles in which Chase and Wolfe move afford Rizzolo an opportunity to depict the disparities in London society of 1812, and she makes the most of it. Engaging and three-dimensional lead characters match her evocative place descriptions. The killer's motivation may be a little underdeveloped, but that doesn't detract from a thoroughly entertaining effort that deserves many sequels.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Rizzolo's sequel to The Rose in the Wheel [BKL Ja 1 & 15 02] takes readers back to London in 1812. Lord Byron is thrilling people with his poems and defending the Luddites in the House of Lords. Penelope Wolfe, now a lady's companion, is living in a mansion on St. James' Square with her daughter, Sarah. When a servant turns up dead in the garden, she contacts Bow Street Runner John Chase. Their investigation has them chasing a mysterious woman who was caught staring at the corpse through a window. Like the best historical mystery authors, Rizzolo is scrupulously accurate and uses her setting as much more than window dressing. The class-conscious society of Regency London acts almost as a foil to the sleuthing efforts of Chase and Wolfe, who uncover a web of family secrets and political conspiracies that extends from sophisticated St. James' Square to the wilds of Dorset, where Druid rituals may reveal the truth. A natural for fans of Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen series (see review on p.1531). Barbara Bibel
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Edition details

• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Pr
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1590580540
• ISBN 13: 9781590580547
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 292