The Widow's Secret by Brian Thompson
Bella Wallis is a respectable society woman with a secret identity: she writes sensationalist novels exposing the scoundrels that litter high society. So when a crested cigar case is found near the body of a murdered prostitute, Bella and her friends are determined to trace the murderer and write a mystery that will avenge the poor girl's death.
The Widow's Secret drops us headfirst into the realm of 19th-century sensation fiction - the lurid stuff of Wilkie Collins and old-fashioned penny dreadfulsAlthough Brian Thompson is best known for his recent memoirs he's equally convincing on murder, mystery and the Victorians. As the curtain-raiser for a new detective series, this novel is a bold beginning. Thompson is clearly having the time of his life here. He revels in the vigilante justice, ribald talk and Dickensian grotesques at his disposal * Sunday Telegraph *
A neo-Victorian yarn that rattles on merrily and rings true. We are told that more instalments of Bella's exploits are on the way. Let them come, say I -- John Sutherland * Financial Times *
Thompson specialises in sharp, elliptical dialogue and brisk little glances into the murk that rises beyond Bella's window -- D. J. Taylor * Guardian *
Brian Thompson writes well and there's a rich vein of humour * Daily Mail *
Entertaining, indeed dazzling. Dickensian in its humour, its vivid evocation of a criminal underworld, and the poverty and filth of the Victorian city * Times Literary Supplement *
A neo-Victorian yarn that rattles on merrily and rings true. We are told that more instalments of Bella's exploits are on the way. Let them come, say I -- John Sutherland * Financial Times *
Thompson specialises in sharp, elliptical dialogue and brisk little glances into the murk that rises beyond Bella's window -- D. J. Taylor * Guardian *
Brian Thompson writes well and there's a rich vein of humour * Daily Mail *
Entertaining, indeed dazzling. Dickensian in its humour, its vivid evocation of a criminal underworld, and the poverty and filth of the Victorian city * Times Literary Supplement *
Brian Thompson was born in London in 1935 and now lives in Oxford. He has written two award-winning volumes of memoir: Keeping Mum (2006), winner of the Costa Prize for Biography and the PEN/Ackerley Prize, and Clever Girl (2007), longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780099539483 |
| ISBN 10 | 0099539489 |
| Title | The Widow's Secret |
| Author | Brian Thompson |
| Series | Bella Wallis Victorian Mysteries |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Vintage Publishing |
| Year published | 2009-06-04 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |