THE RIVAL QUEENS by FIDELIS MORGAN

THE RIVAL QUEENS

BY FIDELIS MORGAN

THE BLURB:-

It's 1699 and those intrepid heroines the Countess Ashby de la Zouche and her maidservant Alpiew are once more scavenging for scandal for that scurrilous rag, the London Trumpet. But with the bailiffs in hot pursuit they are reduced to seeking refuge in a concert hall. No sooner have they settled down for an evening of tedium than one of the players staggers onto the stage, her hands dripping with blood- a doyenne has been decapitated under their very noses.

The unlikely sleuths find themselves with an abundance of suspects: players, ruffians in pink ribbons, a Punch and Judy man- not to mention a painter with a silver proboscis. Their pursuit of the culprit takes them from the Tower of London to Bedlam, with a brief detour via the fields of Wapping. With a little help from Pepys and a lot of laughs and mayhem along the way they uncover a web of corruption that extends to the highest echelons of society.

THE REALITY:-

The person who bought me this book was not wrong in thinking that I would love it- a bodice ripping carry-on of a thrill set in post-Restoration London, with reproachable characters, naughty ladies, mystery, wrongdoings and intrigue. As a lover of Forever Amber, by Kathleen Windsor, this period in history tends to excite me.

But I have tried.   For... oh, ten years now, this book has sat on my shelf. In that time I have tried to read it no less than three times, the last time very recently!  I managed to get to around page 100- but I still could not tell you much about what went on, as the words seemed to flow in through one ear and out of the other.

Maybe it was the somewhat slapstick style of writing. Maybe it was the stupid, childish names of some of the characters. But whatever it was, I could just not get into this novel so, sadly, it's finally going into the charity bag.

Maybe one of you would like to read it and give me an opinion?