Bücher von Caro Peacock

At the request of Queen Victoria's prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, Liberty Lane is dispatched to Brinkburn Hall in search of answers. The deranged aristocrat Lord Brinkburn is nearing death, with his elder son, Stephen, eagerly waiting to inherit his title?until Lady Brinkburn's startling announcement that the heir is illegitimate. Chaos ensues.The rivalry between Stephen and his younger brother, Miles, heats up dangerously. Liberty's arrival only stirs an already volatile mix, and she is greeted soon after by the odd disappearance of one brother . . . and by a shocking murder within the family's circle. Secrets and scandal run rampant throughout the cold and loveless Buckinghamshire estate far from the polish of London's aristocracy?as the plucky young investigator races to separate truth from falsehood, villains from victims, before death takes up a more permanent residence.

Caro Peacock, the acclaimed author of A Foreign Affair, once again ingeniously blends history, suspense, and adventure and returns an endearing and exceptional heroine to the fictional fold.In Victoria's England, there are perilous intrigues a proper young lady would do well to avoid . . . Liberty Lane, still in her early twenties, is doing her best to make a new life for herself in London after being bruised by loss and treachery. But there's no chance for her to settle down as a conventional young lady. First, a disturbingly attractive young politician, Benjamin Disraeli, wants her to use her contacts in the theatre world to find out more about a prima ballerina with a notorious love life called Columbine. He hints that some important interests may be at stake. Then Columbine is murdered in her dressing room, after an on-stage brawl with a younger and less successful dancer, who becomes prime suspect. Liberty is at the center of the investigation because one of her dearest friends, Daniel Suter, is convinced of the girl's innocence and will put his own neck in danger to save her. Liberty's determination to save them from the gallows leads her from the upper reaches of the aristocracy to some of London's lowlife haunts, posing the question: How far would you go to save a friend?