- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; Australia and New Zealand Ed edition (6 Aug 2001)
- ISBN-10: 0007126530
- ISBN-13: 978-0007126538
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,373,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Unnatural Fire (Countess Ashby dela Zouche)
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Product Description
Review
‘Fidelis Morgan’s tale of love and greed and alchemy in 1699 is a heady compound of wit, wisdom and wildness. It’s an unsentimental warts-and-all portrait that reeks of authenticity, written with a brio that reflects the age’
Val McDermid
‘Hilarious 17th century romp, which combines an authentic slice of history with a tantalising storyline. An authority on the era, Morgan has created an inventive book which wears its learning lightly. Colourful turns of phrase and witty descriptions – like a bawdy P.G. Wodehouse – leave you with a keen sense of the period’ Daily Mail
Product Description
The first in a hugely entertaining, vivid, colourful and fascinating crime series featuring a down-at-heel countess and her maid on the loose in late Restoration London: ‘A frolicking good read’ Daily Mail
London 1699. Anastasia Ashby de la Zouche, Baroness Penge, Countess of Clapham, former mistress to Charles II, is an aristocrat on her uppers. Cast into the notorious Fleet Prison by the bum-bailiffs, she is forced to turn to journalism: ferreting out scurrilous tit-bits for a scandal sheet. But the Countess and her maidservant Alpiew encounter more intrigue than they bargained for when a mysterious woman hires them to follow her husband, Beau, whom she suspects of adultery.
Their pursuit of Beau leads them to playhouses, scientific lectures, coffee houses, the half-constructed St Paul’s Cathedral and dives of Alsatia, only to end abruptly in a Covent Garden churchyard – leaving the Countess and Alpiew implicated in a murder. And worse is to follow, for to unravel their only clue they must penetrate the mysteries of alchemy…
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First Sentence
'Take this down ... "At the stroke of 8 o'clock this morning, while the night-watch Charlies still slept in their boxes, the Honourable Marmaduke Smallwood tied a knot with tongue which he can never untie with his teeth. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
'Take this down ... "At the stroke of 8 o'clock this morning, while the night-watch Charlies still slept in their boxes, the Honourable Marmaduke Smallwood tied a knot with tongue which he can never untie with his teeth. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Unnatural Fire by Fidelis Morgan
Fan me ye winds! If you're lusting after a great story told by a master (mistress?), buy this book. Anastasia Ashby dela Zouche, Baroness Penge, Countess of Clapham is a new star in the murder mystery firmament. Down on her luck, to all intents and purposes past her prime, the Countess is forced to show her mettle and proves to be shrewd, resourceful and not above a little wheeling and dealing but always with a strong sense of honour and noblesse oblige. Perfect. The most exciting and original detective since Falco, I loved the Countess and her wily side-kick, Alpiew. In our genre-obsessed culture Unnatural Fire will no doubt be straitjacketed as an historical thriller but it's much more than that - not only a brilliant(often gory)murder mystery, a subtle reflection on the nature of love, loyalty and friendship, a cracking, beautifully written yarn which effortlessly brings to life the seething social and intellectual backdrop of Restoration London (Morgan ingeniously uses the different stages of the alchemical process to structure her book) but it's also VERY FUNNY. I hated coming to the end of Unnatural Fire - always a good sign and I'm praying that there'll be a series.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Unnatural Fire is the best historical crime story that I have read in a very long time. Packed full of the sights and scents of London and full of fascinating snippets of historical information, the story crackles with life. The characters are funny and well drawn and the plot twists are cunning. A great read!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a wonderfully funny, original book. I thought it was a delight from cover to cover. One reviewer said she found it a 'slog' - I can only imagine she was reading something completely different to the rest of us. I understand there is a series and I will be ordering the rest immediately. Thank you Ms Morgan, for such brilliant entertainment!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Disappointing to say the least
To be completely honest, I threw this book out. I never throw books away otherwise, it hurts me physically to do so. Read more
Published on 27 April 2010 by Multikulti
A tad too pleased with itself
Enjoyable romp, but do you know what I mean when I say something has been *over* researched? It feels like period details are being inserted just for the sake of themselves and... Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2008 by Michael Hodgson
At last - jobs for the girls!
Thanks to Fidelis Morgan, the UK's leading expert on Restoration women dramatists, a considerable body of work by seventeenth century women writers has been rescued from obscurity. Read more
Published on 14 Dec 2000
Mama Huhu
I really enjoyed FM's lit crit, but I found this novel a slog. I didn't really take to the main characters, who all seemed a little histrionic (I prefer my detectives detached, but... Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2000
A real page turner!!
Unnatural Fire is a brilliant crime thriller set in London in the 1699. All the characters are beautifully drawn, but Lady Anastasia and her servant Alpiew will become classic... Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2000 by Semer 57
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