Synopses & Reviews
London, 1912. The suffragette movement is reaching a fever pitch, and Inspector Frederick Primrose is hunting a murderer on his beat. Across town, Fleet Street reporter Frances "Frankie" George is chasing an interview with trapeze artist Ebony Diamond. Frankie finds herself fascinated by the tightly-laced acrobat and follows her to a Kensington corset shop that seems to be hiding secrets of its own. When Ebony Diamond mysteriously disappears in the middle of a performance, Frankie and Primrose are both drawn into the shadowy world of a secret society with ties to both London's criminal underworld and its glittering socialites. How did Ebony vanish, who was she afraid of, and what goes on behind the doors of the mysterious Hourglass Factory? From newsrooms to the drawing rooms of high society, the investigation leads Frankie and Primrose to a murderous villain with a plot more deadly than anyone could have imagined.
Review
"Provides the mounting suspense of a traditional whodunnit. Yet this is also a historical novel, including suffragette marches, the sinking of the Titanic, and the Jack the Ripper murders, all breathing life into Ribchester's London." The Guardian
Review
"Fine flourishes from historical incidents in its prologue and epilogue make for a memorable start and finish." The Independent
Review
"A rollicking good read. A good old-fashioned piece of storytelling with a bit of suspense and some
Review
"A big debut with a convoluted plot: its energy, crackle and humour is infectious." Daily Mail
Synopsis
Amid the drama of the suffragette movement in Victorian London, the disappearance of a famous trapeze artist in the middle of her act leads a young Fleet Street reporter to a bizarre secret society of circus freaks, fetishists and society columnists.
About the Author
Lucy Ribchester was the winner of the Scottish Book Trust New Writer's Award 2013. Her travel writing has appeared in The Guardian and Scotland in Trust magazines and her short stories have been published by, among others, Vintage Script, Ether, and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Lucy lives in Edinburgh.