The Painted Lady
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Review
"The past brought to life with brilliant colors, combined with a perfect whodunit."
Product Description
Araminta Jewell is one of the beauties of her day; a witty, resourceful, dazzling young lady who manages to resist all the blandishments that come her way. Even her marriage to the staid and ugly Sir Martin Culthorpe has not discouraged the rakes of London; for them she has assumed an almost iconic status. Before she wed, a special club had been set up - the Society for the Capture of Araminta's Maidenhood - with the first man to bed her standing to win a sizeable wager. Though she is now a wife, she is still pursued with unflagging zeal. It is during her first sitting for a portrait painted by the fashionable French artist Jean-Paul Villemot that the architect Christopher Redmayne meets the lovely Lady Culthorpe, although he has heard much about her through his dissipated brother Henry, one of her most ardent pursuers. Before the portrait can be finished and revealed, however, Sir Martin is murdered.Joining forces with Henry and his good friend the puritan Constable Jonathan Bale, Christopher embarks on a quest to discover the killer's identity. But with each new day bringing a fresh batch of suspects, and the matter of whether Sir Martin was killed because of his shady business dealings or for the exquisite prize of his wife still unclear, Christopher knows this will be far from an easy case to crack.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Edward Marston is the pseudonym of Keith Miles, a fairly prolific and extremely good writer of mainly Elizabethan and medieval mysteries. He has also written mysteries under his own name with both sporting and golf backgrounds. However it is primarily the books that take place earlier in history that I am interested in. He read modern history at Oxford and has had many jobs, including university lecturer, but fortunately for all his readers, he turned to the writing profession.
Araminta Jewell more than lives up to her name. She is one of the most beautiful women in London, but she is more than just a beauty, she is charming and witty and many would say the ideal woman. Even though she is now married to the dreary and none to handsome Sir Martin Culthorpe she still has many admirers among the rakes of London. Men who even now cannot give up the thrill of the chase and pursue her with a passion.
One of her most ardent pursuers is Henry, brother of architect Christopher Redmayne and although Christopher has heard much of Araminta from his brother his first meeting with her is at her first sitting for a portrait by the French artist Jean-Paul Villemot. However before the painting is finished her husband is brutally murdered. Joining forces with his brother and his friend and associate Constable Jonathan Bale Christopher sets out to try to discover the killer's identity. Was Sir Martin killed because of his shady dealings, or was the most beautiful woman in the whole of London the prize that someone was prepared to commit murder for?
Araminta Jewell more than lives up to her name. She is one of the most beautiful women in London, but she is more than just a beauty, she is charming and witty and many would say the ideal woman. Even though she is now married to the dreary and none to handsome Sir Martin Culthorpe she still has many admirers among the rakes of London. Men who even now cannot give up the thrill of the chase and pursue her with a passion.
One of her most ardent pursuers is Henry, brother of architect Christopher Redmayne and although Christopher has heard much of Araminta from his brother his first meeting with her is at her first sitting for a portrait by the French artist Jean-Paul Villemot. However before the painting is finished her husband is brutally murdered. Joining forces with his brother and his friend and associate Constable Jonathan Bale Christopher sets out to try to discover the killer's identity. Was Sir Martin killed because of his shady dealings, or was the most beautiful woman in the whole of London the prize that someone was prepared to commit murder for?
1 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I like his Railway Detective novels but this genre exposes his sometimes leaden prose. This book was awful right from the beginning, with a very weak plot and dreadful characters. It may get better later on, but I couldn't get beyond chapter 1.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Marsten does it again
19 Feb 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A murder mystery set in restored London after the London Fire, about 1670 called the Parliament House by Edward Marston. This was a quick reead (my favorite) with little bits of historical information spattered here and there, without forcing the history down your throat, and thus admirably able to draw you into the story of Christopher and Susan, how their courting will be effected by the attempt on her father's life and Christopher's brother and his life of hedonistic stupidity.
I love historic London, and if I am ever lucky enough to go there, I am sure I will fall in love with the place and have a hard time pulling myself away from it's amazing twisting and turning streets. So this was an easy place for me to fall into and really dig into the story. Now, I am a sucker for a love story, and this story had one in addition to the murder and the attempt on Susan's father. The story moved along at a good pace, had a good number of twists and turns, all the villains got their due coming, and in the end Christopher was able to secure a relationship with the one woman for him. So all in all, a decent book, perhaps not the best I have ever read, and nothing life changing here, but still a worthwhile and enduring story. I definitely recommend this book to lovers of a good historical mystery.
I love historic London, and if I am ever lucky enough to go there, I am sure I will fall in love with the place and have a hard time pulling myself away from it's amazing twisting and turning streets. So this was an easy place for me to fall into and really dig into the story. Now, I am a sucker for a love story, and this story had one in addition to the murder and the attempt on Susan's father. The story moved along at a good pace, had a good number of twists and turns, all the villains got their due coming, and in the end Christopher was able to secure a relationship with the one woman for him. So all in all, a decent book, perhaps not the best I have ever read, and nothing life changing here, but still a worthwhile and enduring story. I definitely recommend this book to lovers of a good historical mystery.
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful
A portrait of murder
31 Aug 2007
Format:Hardcover
In 17th century London, a group of rakes and ne'er do wells decide to pursue Araminta Jewell, a young, aristocratic beauty, to see which of them could capture her virginity. Their initial plan was thwarted by the marriage of Araminta to an older man, but this pathetic bunch of villians still want to worm their way into her bed and place bets on who would be the winner. When the husband is murdered in his own garden, this fact doesn't deter them and they plan to descend on her at the funeral, en masse, declaring their undying love and devotion. Brilliant young architect Christopher Redmayne, whose brother Henry is one of the reprobates bent on having their way with Araminta, investigates the death of Araminta's husband with the aid of his friend, Constable Jonathon Bale. These two characters have apparently appeared in other mystery books by Edward Marston and are well known amateur sleuths.
It's a mercifully short book.
It's a mercifully short book.
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