WILLIAM SAVAGE’S LATEST BOOK
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The Adam Bascom Mysteries: Book 6
There were many wild, womanising Georgian rakes — and then there was Frederick Dalston: a young man hellbent on bringing total ruin to himself and his family. Yet when his body is found one morning on a lonely Norfolk road, matters take a more sinister turn. Is it a case of a highway robbery gone wrong? Revenge taken by one of the scores of people he had harmed? A random killing by a maniac? A punishment inflicted by a ruthless gang of freetraders?<
There were many wild, womanising Georgian rakes — and then there was Frederick Dalston: a young man hellbent on bringing total ruin to himself and his family. Yet when his body is found one morning on a lonely Norfolk road, matters take a more sinister turn. Is it a case of a highway robbery gone wrong? Revenge taken by one of the scores of people he had harmed? A random killing by a maniac? A punishment inflicted by a ruthless gang of freetraders?
The local coroner and magistrate quickly give up hope of finding the murderer. Then William Dalston, the dead man’s father, comes to see newly-married Sir Adam Bascom to plead for his help in finding who killed his son and heir.
Adam threads his way through the wreckage of Frederick Dalston’s life, finding Dalston had gone out of his way to make bitter enemies on every side. At last, after many false turns, the discovery of the schemes of a shadowy figure in Norwich’s criminal underworld, followed by an emotional confrontation in a country house, reveal the shocking truth about the true causes of Frederick Dalston’s death
“The Reluctant Heir” is the latest instalment in a series of historical mysteries which has drawn rave reviews from both sides of the Atlantic.
July 2020 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 This month’s posts
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Category Archives: Medicine & Science
Melancholy and the Romantic Movement
How did the concept of melancholy came to be seen as especially associated with Romanticism and creativity in the arts? In the 18th century, the concept of sensibility—a refined feeling of emotion and delicacy of perception—was synonymous with social refinement … Continue reading
Melancholy and Madness
In the eighteenth century, melancholia was thought of not as a curable mental affliction, but as one of the primary forms of madness. Melancholia means ‘black bile’, one of the four bodily humours recognised by the Hippocratic and Galenic systems … Continue reading
Was Melancholy THE English Malady of the 18th Century?
“Mine, you are to know, is a white Melancholy, or rather Leucocholy… which though it seldom laughs or dances, nor ever amounts to what one calls Joy or Pleasure, yet is a good easy sort of a state … But … Continue reading
Some Georgian Medicine (from the archives)
Elizabeth Postlethwaite in 1777 (© Copyright National Portrait Gallery, London) A little while ago, rummaging in a secondhand bookshop as I often do, I found a small, locally-published book containing extracts from the correspondence of two Norfolk sisters, Elizabeth and … Continue reading
The 18th-century Apothecary
Those of you who have read any of my Georgian murder-mystery books featuring Dr Adam Bascom will know that one of the important series characters is Peter Lassimer, an apothecary. I was therefore fascinated to find an article in a … Continue reading
“Cunning Folk”: Witchcraft, Healing and Superstition
It’s easy to forget that “Cunning Folk” had been a normal part of society from the Middle Ages and continued right through until the start of the 20th century. They included men and women, some practising as healers, some as … Continue reading
The ‘Bluestockings’ and Society
Today the term ‘bluestocking’ is applied to women who do not conform to the supposed feminine stereotype. In the eighteenth century, it had not yet gained that automatic sneer and referred to any woman distinguished by learning and intelligence. So … Continue reading
The Medical Free-for-All that was Georgian Britain
It’s easy to assume that the treatment options open to people in Georgian times were prescribed by income and social class. This is incorrect. Naturally, in such a laissez faire era, the richer you were, the more choices were open … Continue reading
Forthergil’s Chymical Nervous Drops
Surely a Remedy Worth Having! One of the particular joys of reading through eighteenth-century newspapers is finding advertisements for various ‘quack’ remedies and patent medicines. This one, from The Norfolk Chronicle for 17th March, 1781, really wins the prize! What … Continue reading
Georgian “Madness” and Melancholy
In the eighteenth century, “madness” was used as a catch-all description for just about any type of mental illness, from depression to full-blown psychosis and mania. The causes were much debated, not just by medical men either. Some saw madness … Continue reading
