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Product Description
June 1815. When Henry Morton is called to the scene at Portman House in Claridge Square, the Bow Street constable finds a man dead in a hackney coach--ostensibly of asphyxiation. He was Halbert Glendinning, a gentleman of unsullied character. Then why was he seen frequenting one of London’s most notorious dens of iniquity? And why has the driver of the coach vanished into the night?
While Sir Nathaniel Conant, the chief magistrate at Number 4 Bow Street, accepts the official verdict of accidental death, Morton is certain that Glendinning was a victim of foul play. With the help of actress Arabella Malibrant, one of London’s most celebrated beauties, he embarks on his own discreet inquiry. And as the upper circles of London society close ranks against him, Morton races to unmask a killer whose motives are as complex and unfathomable as the passions that rule the human heart.
While Sir Nathaniel Conant, the chief magistrate at Number 4 Bow Street, accepts the official verdict of accidental death, Morton is certain that Glendinning was a victim of foul play. With the help of actress Arabella Malibrant, one of London’s most celebrated beauties, he embarks on his own discreet inquiry. And as the upper circles of London society close ranks against him, Morton races to unmask a killer whose motives are as complex and unfathomable as the passions that rule the human heart.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I have a been a confirmed Anglophile all my life,with special interest in British authors.I've read about Bow Street,& the runners,in other novels,so imagine my delight to find a book that centers on that long-ago institution.
The characters are well-drawn,& the plot was ingrossing.The book also presents a glimpse into 18th century England,which added to the enjoyment of the story. I enjoy mysteries that don't telegraph the ending,& this one more than met my expectations.
The characters are well-drawn,& the plot was ingrossing.The book also presents a glimpse into 18th century England,which added to the enjoyment of the story. I enjoy mysteries that don't telegraph the ending,& this one more than met my expectations.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I picked up this book by chance and found that I couldn't put it down again. The plot is well structured; the characters believable and well developed; and the backdrop of regency England is well researched. The locations used in London, for example all ring true. Ideal for a holiday read.
I enjoyed the authors style and have just ordered the second the sequel.
I enjoyed the authors style and have just ordered the second the sequel.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
In 1748 the Bow Street Runners were set up at the Bow Street magistrates court, at the instigation of Sir Henry Fielding, playright and author (Tom Jones, the book not the Welsh singer!) and his brother John a magistrate. The brothers were so concerned at the rise of crime in London that they petitioned Parliament for an official policing force. Prior to the Runners, there was no official police force in Britain, unlike other countries. The constables were merely local volunteers. The gentry and aristocrates felt it was the duty of the populace to give up someone guilty of a crime to the local magistrate. A noble thought in theory. However, in practice they had reckoned without loyalty, love, friendship, family feeling and of course fear.
The Runners were only responsible for policing London and were not a nationwide force. They worked on a commission basis, being paid for an arrest and then for a guilty conviction. They did however, take on private investigation commissions from private individuals both in London and without. They were in effect the forerunners of the modern police detective.
Here, we have Henry Morton, a Runner of outstanding honest repution, who takes on a private investigation into the death of a young man of unpeachable reputation. Who had, according to the doctor who examined him, died due to vomiting on an excess of alcohol and who earlier in the evening had been seen at a tavern of ill-repute. Morton disagrees with doctor and thinks that the young man has been poisoned.
Morton is drawn into a complicated case involving the Elgin Marbles, a murder, a duel, a tavern which is also a brothel selling child prostitutes, a missing note, the hanging of a man and his wife who protest their innocence and say that the Runners set them up, a hostile mob, the dead man's mysterious fiance and her brother, corrupt Runners, thugs trying to kill him and the threat of the noose for Morton himself. At the back of this the population waits on tenderhooks for news about the battle of Waterloo (1815).
Extremely interesting read.
The Runners were only responsible for policing London and were not a nationwide force. They worked on a commission basis, being paid for an arrest and then for a guilty conviction. They did however, take on private investigation commissions from private individuals both in London and without. They were in effect the forerunners of the modern police detective.
Here, we have Henry Morton, a Runner of outstanding honest repution, who takes on a private investigation into the death of a young man of unpeachable reputation. Who had, according to the doctor who examined him, died due to vomiting on an excess of alcohol and who earlier in the evening had been seen at a tavern of ill-repute. Morton disagrees with doctor and thinks that the young man has been poisoned.
Morton is drawn into a complicated case involving the Elgin Marbles, a murder, a duel, a tavern which is also a brothel selling child prostitutes, a missing note, the hanging of a man and his wife who protest their innocence and say that the Runners set them up, a hostile mob, the dead man's mysterious fiance and her brother, corrupt Runners, thugs trying to kill him and the threat of the noose for Morton himself. At the back of this the population waits on tenderhooks for news about the battle of Waterloo (1815).
Extremely interesting read.
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