{"product_id":"rival-queens-book-fidelis-morgan-9780688176846","title":"The Rival Queens","description":"\u003cp\u003eRestoration London, 1700. Those intrepid and destitute heroines the Countess Ashby de la Zouche and her maidservant Alpiew -- whose most recent caper involved trying to uncover an adulterer and accidentally unearthing a plot involving corruption, alchemy, transvestitism, treason and murder -- are once more scavenging for scandal to entertain the readers of that scurrilous rag the\u0026gt;\u003cem\u003eLondon Trumpet.\u003c\/em\u003e With the tireless bailiffs hot on their skirt tails, the Countess and Alpiew are reduced to seeking refuge in a philosophical lecture at the York Buildings concert hall. But their expectations of a dull evening are confounded when one of the players staggers onto the stage, her hands dripping with blood. A doyenne has been decapitated under their very noses\u0026gt;\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the resulting chaos the unlikely sleuths find themselves with an abundance of suspects: players, phanatiques, punks, ruffians in pink ribbons, a Punch-and-Judy man -- not to mention a painter with a silver proboscis. Determined to leave no stone unturned, they relentlessly pursue their suspect from the Tower of London to Bedlam, with a brief detour to the wilds of Wapping. Along the way they uncover -- with a little help from Samuel Pepys -- a vast web of intrigue and corruption that extends into the highest echelons of both society and the judiciary.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBuilding upon her beguiling first novel, \u003cem\u003eUnnatural Fire, \u003c\/em\u003e Fidelis Morgan once again weaves a fabulous romp through London's darker and seamier side, with a charged historical mystery that is as darkly funny as it is gripping and entertaining. An unforgettable story of murder and mayhem, \u003cem\u003eThe Rival Queens\u003c\/em\u003e is a wonderfully complex and revealing portrait of London at the dawn of the eighteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50360321147153,"sku":"CIN0688176844G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0688176844.jpg?v=1751294850","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/products\/rival-queens-book-fidelis-morgan-9780688176846","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}