The Infernal Riddle of Thomas Peach

Treadwell, Jas (James)

ISBN 10: 1529347327 / ISBN 13: 9781529347326

Published by Hodder and Stoughton / Hachette, London, 2021

About this Item

First edition, first impression with '1' on copyright page. Some slight edge wear to top and bottom of jacket and spine, not price clipped (£16.99), no inscriptions, internally clean tight and almost square, overall a vg+ copy. 456pp. It is the year 1785, and a gentleman of modest means has left London for the countryside, to look after his ailing wife. Among his new neighbours, tongues begin to wag. Why does he keep a locked chest under the stairs? Is it really full of forbidden books? And what exactly is the matter with his wife? For the most part, though, the couple live in peace, until a letter arrives, threatening to cut off their livelihood and expel them from their home. Faced with the prospect of penury and perhaps worse, the gentleman rides out in search of some means to save himself. But fate has other plans for Thomas Peach. A bizarre request brings an encounter with a mysterious young woman, raised from infancy as a rich man's ward, now condemned to the madhouse. As their paths become disturbingly entangled, Mr Peach begins to suspect that in her past lies a dreadful secret . Quite scarce.

Seller Inventory # 011100

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Infernal Riddle of Thomas Peach
• Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton / Hachette, London
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1529347327
• ISBN 13: 9781529347326
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Jacket by Natalie Chen
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

About this title

Synopsis

The year is 1785, and Thomas Peach, a gentleman of modest means, moves to a small village in the West Country, bringing with him a steamer chest of clothes, some books - and, apparently, his wife, Mrs Peach, who quickly becomes a source of fascination and suspicion to the villagers. Why is she never seen abroad? Why does Mr Peach refuse entry to her bedroom to their maidservant, who is unable to detect even a whisper of breath at Mrs Peach's door, try as she might? Does Mrs Peach even exist? And if so, is she the victim of her husband's cruelty?

A liberal and free thinker, Mr Peach is a member of a society of learned men in Bristol, one of whom is guardian of a young woman believed to be possessed by a demon. Mr Peach disagrees with this opinion, but suspicion only grows when the woman in question - whose mouth and lips are stained inexplicably black - escapes from her patron and causes panic in the countryside. Soon she is living under Mr Peach's protection. But he himself is in danger; someone - or something - has followed him from his former life in London. Thomas Peach has enumerable secrets - and one of them might just prove deadly.