Murder on Black Swan Lake

A Wrexford & Sloane Mystery Book 1

by Andrea Penrose

Kensington Publishing

Mystery: Historical

June 27, 2017

ISBN-10: 1496710770

ISBN-13: 9781496710772

Available in: Hardcover, Paperback, e-Book

Murder on Black Swan Lake
by Andrea Penrose

In Regency London, an unconventional scientist and a fearless female artist form an unlikely alliance to expose unspeakable evil . . .

The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. He does not suffer fools gladly. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London’s most popular satirical cartoonist, A.J. Quill, skewers them both. But then the clergyman is found slain in a church—his face burned by chemicals, his throat slashed ear to ear—and Wrexford finds himself the chief suspect.

An artist in her own right, Charlotte Sloane has secretly slipped into the persona of her late husband, using his nom de plume A.J. Quill. When Wrexford discovers her true identity, she fears it will be her undoing. But he has a proposal—use her sources to unveil the clergyman’s clandestine involvement in questionable scientific practices, and unmask the real murderer. Soon Lord Wrexford and the mysterious Mrs. Sloane plunge into a dangerous shadow world hidden among London’s intellectual enclaves to trap a cunning adversary—before they fall victim to the next experiment in villainy . . .



Andrea Penrose's Bio

I began my writing career at age five, creating a number of Westerns lavishly illustrated with crayon drawings of horses and cowboys. However, I have since moved on to Regency England, an era that has fascinated me ever since I picked up a copy of Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice.

Books have always been an important part of my life. I have always been a voracious reader, and I have always had a very vivid imagination . . . so much so that I think at times it worried my parents that I was so happy in my own little world, drawing pictures and creating stories. My teachers will also tell you that I was the class history geek, even in grade school. I don’t really know why, but I have always been fascinated with the past.

As an undergrad at Yale, I majored in art—though I took enough history courses to have majored in that subject as well—and went on to get a MFA in Graphic Design at the Yale School of Art, concentrating in publication design. So I guess you could say I have always had a left brain-right brain sort of love affair with the printed page.

So why did I choose the Regency time period for my mysteries? I love the era because it was such a fabulously interesting time and place—it was a world aswirl in silks, seduction and the intrigue of the Napoleonic Wars. Radical new ideas were clashing with the conventional thinking of the past, and as a result, people were challenging and changing the fundamentals of their society. For example, you had Beethoven composing emotional symphonies, Byron composing wildly romantic poetry about individual angst, J.M.W. Turner dabbling in impressionistic watercolors and Mary Wollstonecraft writing the first feminist manifestos . . .

In so many ways, it was the birth of the modern world, and for me, its challenges, its characters and its conflicts have such relevance to our own times . . . and hey, who can resist men in breeches and boots!

In Lady Arianna Hadley and Allesandro de Quincy, the Earl of Saybrook, I've sought to create two individuals who embody the intellectual curiosity—and courage—of the times. They'll be setting off on some devilishly daunting adventures. So lace up your corsets, tweak the tails of your cravat and let's enter a world of glittering ballrooms and deadly intrigues.