Historical novelist Laura
Shepherd-Robinson wanders into thriller territory with her newest book The
Art of a Lie, to be released on 5 August 2025 by Atria Books. Newly widowed
Hannah Cole is beset from all sides: her Piccadilly confectionery business Punchbowl
and Pineapple is foundering because women in business are socially unacceptable,
her suppliers are overcharging her, the shop assistants are acting up. Along
comes William Deveraux, a stranger to Hannah but who says he was friends with her
late husband Jonas Cole and wants to be of assistance to his widow.
Hannah is grateful for any
help he offers. When William suggests that an Italian delicacy called iced
cream would draw crowds to her shop and revitalize its reputation, she
immediately refines the old recipe he found and advertises the new treat, which
is a rousing success.
Hannah’s cousin, the executor
of Cole’s estate, finds a large sum of money in Cole’s bank accounts that
cannot be explained. Sir Henry Fielding, author turned magistrate, is trying
hard to promote the desirability of a publicly funded police force, which so
far no one wants. Fielding attaches the estate while he investigates Cole’s
business dealings more thoroughly, freezing probate and settlement. If the
money could be proven to be illicitly acquired, then Fielding can seize it to
fund his police force. Cole was found in the river, an apparent victim of a
street robbery, but Fielding learns enough about his shady business dealings to
suspect deliberate murder and decides to look more closely, asking questions of
the late Cole’s associates and relatives, including Hannah, that they would
rather not answer.
In the meantime Deveraux is
growing particular in his attentions to Hannah, despite her mourning status,
causing considerable gossip. She is busy experimenting with new flavors of iced
cream while ordering more cream and ice every day; she cannot keep the frozen
dessert in stock and the elite of the ton are dashing to her store.
Set in 1749 during the reign
of George II, readers familiar with the St. Cyr Regency mysteries written by C.
S. Harris which begin in 1811 will still recognize many of the people, places,
and conventions. Like Harris, Shepherd-Robinson’s deep scholarly research is
dauntingly impressive but never interferes with the unfolding of the story. The
annotated bibliography at the end offers more sources for the academically minded
to pursue.
Hannah is a force of nature in
a time when women were not allowed to be anything except servants, figuratively
and literally. Her strength of character and raw intelligence keep her one step
ahead of everyone else and allows her to deceive her ill-wishers and surprise
the reader again and again.
A fascinating read. It will be
on my best of 2025 list.
Starred review from Library
Journal.
·
Publisher:
Atria Books
·
Publication
date: August 5, 2025
·
Language:
English
·
Print
length: 304 pages
·
ISBN-10:
1668083094
·
ISBN-13:
978-1668083093
Amazon Associate Purchase
Link: https://amzn.to/46DIRFk
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2025
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment