“I read it with enjoyment… I found myself burning for the injustices of it, and caring what happened to the people.”
—Anne Perry, author of the Charlotte and Pitt historical mysteries
Kathryn Ardleigh is everything the Victorian English gentlewoman is not: outspoken, free-thinking, Irish-American, and a writer of penny-dreadfuls, sensational tales of adventure, romance, and crime-and-detection. When she takes possession of Bishop’s Keep, the Ardleigh estate in Essex England that she has inherited, she shocks the household and captures the attention of amateur detective Sir Charles Sheridan. Sir Charles is interested in the developing forensic sciences: toxicology, ballistics, fingerprints, X-ray, and crime scene photography.
Soon there is something to interest both Kate and Sir Charles: a recently-dead body just uncovered at a nearby archaeological dig. The investigation provides the perfect research background for Kate’s next novel. But the inquisitive writer may be digging too deep–especially when the trail leads her into a secret occult society known as the Order of the Golden Dawn.
Praise for Robin Paige Victorian Mysteries
“Wonderfully gothic…a bright and lively recreation of late Victorian society.”
—Sharan Newman
“I couldn’t put it down.”
—Murder & Mayhem
“Eminently satisfying… intricate mystery. Delightful pair of sleuths. A wonderful sense of atmosphere and place.”
—Gothic Journal
“Good stories with a nice feel for the period. Intriguing and intelligent.”
—Mysterious Women
“An original and intelligent sleuth… a vivid recreation of late Victorian England.”
—Jean Hager
About the Authors
Robin Paige is the pseudonym of husband-and-wife team Susan Wittig Albert and Bill Albert. They are also the coauthors of more than sixty novels for young adults. They wrote the Robin Paige series over a twelve-year period: 1994-2006. (Photo 1998)
Colchester Castle, not far from the dig where the body was found.
Resources
Only a few miles from Bishop’s Keep, in Colchester, the castle is a famous surviving Norman structure, built not long after the invasion of 1066.
The landscape painter, John Constable, went to school in the nearby village of Dedham, on the bank of the River Stour.
Kate Ardleigh’s penny dreadfuls might have looked something like this.
