by William Savage
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Historical Mystery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
“Many
people wear masks. Some to hide their feelings; some to conceal their identity;
and some to hide that most hideous plague of mankind: a sickness in the soul.”
Ashmole Foxe, Norwich
bookseller, man-about-town and solver of mysteries will encounter all of these
in this tangled drama of hatred, obsession and redemption.
This is a story set in
the England of the 1760s, a time of rigid class distinctions, where the rich
idle their days away in magnificent mansions, while hungry children beg, steal
and prostitute themselves on the streets. An era on the cusp of revolution in
America and France; a land where outward wealth and display hide simmering
political and social tensions; a country which had faced intermittent war for
the past fifty years and would need to survive a series of world-wide conflicts
in the fifty years ahead.
Faced with no less than
three murders, occurring from the aristocracy to the seeming senseless
professional assassination of a homeless vagrant, Ashmole Foxe must call on all
his skill and intelligence to uncover the sickness which appears to be
infecting his city’s very soul.
Can Foxe uncover the
truth which lies behind a series of baffling deaths, from an aristocrat
attending a ball to a vagrant murdered where he slept in a filthy back-alley?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naturally, all this affability ended the moment Foxe stepped
into the Great Hall itself. Sir Samuel would have used this as the meeting
place to impress his influence and social status on all his visitors, and on Mr
Foxe most of all. Now he received Foxe standing, his back to a large fireplace
with an elaborate alabaster surround. Above him could be seen the coat of arms
of the Valmar family. I may be a man like you, all this seemed to proclaim, but
I am not just your social superior. I am a Valmar too. Remember that.
The baronet had dressed himself in a suit of fine brown wool
embroidered in gold, over a pale cream waistcoat sprigged with tiny flowers.
From his leather shoes with their golden buckles and his spotless white silk
stockings up to his freshly powdered wig, he was the embodiment of the rich
landowner suffering the attentions of some troublesome tenant. He was also in a
combative mood. He launched his attack at once and without preliminaries.
‘Say what you have to say, sir, then get out!’ the baronet
barked. ‘I am only suffering your presence because my wife begged me to do so.
According to her, you have some important information affecting the Valmar
family. My family heritage is everything to me. We Valmars came over with the
Conqueror and have been here ever since. In all that time, no one has
dishonoured the family name. No one ever shall, while I live and breathe. Now,
get on with it — and be brief!’
When Foxe had stood before this man the last time, Sir
Samuel had affected an air of complete indifference. Now all was different.
What he wanted was to send this meddlesome tradesman about his business;
preferably with his tail between his legs. By the end of his opening speech,
his face was suffused with red and purple from the effort of holding his temper
in check. Foxe noted how the other man’s breathing was shallow, his fists
clenched tight and his eyes narrowed with fury. He had expected some such
display of temper, but even he was taken aback by the vehemence of Sir Samuel’s
attack. Still, he had determined in advance nothing would shake his calmness.
He therefore replied in a quiet voice, his words measured and his tone mild and
reasonable. To his quiet satisfaction, he observed immediately how much this
gentle manner seemed to inflame Sir Samuel even more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I started to
write fiction as a way of keeping my mind active in retirement. Throughout my
life, I have read and enjoyed hundreds of detective stories and mystery novels.
One of my other loves is history, so it seemed natural to put the two together.
Thus began two series of murder mystery books set in Norfolk, England.
All my books
are set between 1760 and around 1800, a period of turmoil in Britain, with
constant wars, revolutions in America and France and finally the titanic,
22-year struggle with Napoleon.
The Ashmole
Foxe series takes place at the start of this time and is located in Norwich. Mr
Foxe is a dandy, a bookseller and, unknown to most around him, the mayor’s
immediate choice to deal with anything likely to upset the peace or economic
security of the city.
The series
featuring Dr Adam Bascom, a young gentleman physician caught up in the
beginning of the Napoleonic wars, takes place in a variety of locations near
the North Norfolk coast. Adam builds a successful medical practice, but his
insatiable curiosity and knack for
unravelling intrigue constantly involve him in mysteries large and small.
I have spent a
good deal of my life travelling in Britain and overseas. Now I am more than
content to write stories and run a blog devoted to the world of Georgian
England, which you can find at http://www.penandpension.com. You can also
follow me on Twitter as @penandpension.
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00RZBGQ0K
The Ashmole Foxe
Mysteries
All
https://penandpension.com/my-writing#foxe
The Ashmole
Foxe Mysteries http://bit.ly/2Abn1Ks
The Fabric of
Murder http://relinks.me/B00W3SDJW8
Dark Threads of
Vengeance http://relinks.me/B01FPQ2Q1Y
This Parody of
Death http://relinks.me/B06XDNY81B
Bad Blood Will
Out http://relinks.me/B079RCVQ4X
Black as She’s
Painted http://relinks.me/B07H1SZN37
A Sickness in
the Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WF3Y4VJ
Getbook.at/SoulSickness
The Dr Adam
Bascom Mysteries
All
https://penandpension.com/my-writing#bascom
The Dr Adam
Bascom Mysteries http://bit.ly/2k43dSQ
An Unlamented
Death http://relinks.me/B00RXGWIY0
The Code for
Killing http://relinks.me/B01A2BY1LU
A Shortcut to
Murder http://relinks.me/B01M1R78L3
A Tincture of
Secrets and Lies http://relinks.me/B075LM2TZP
Death of a Good
Samaritan https://relinks.me/B07NLCGK2Y
Blog
Pen and
Pension: http://bit.ly/1Kb1Q4k
Author Page
Comments
--Trix