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A rich goldsmith turned banker goes missing, and his wife is found strangled on her own bed. It’s yet another case for Georgian Norwich’s most cunning and unconventional crime-solver, the bookseller Mr Ashmole Foxe!
Foxe is approached by representatives of the city’s mercantile elite to find the missing banker before his disappearance causes a financial panic. Thus begins a tale of intrigue, deceit and hatred, involving one of Foxe’s most loathed enemies.
Aided by a motley cast of street children, a beautiful teenage burglar, and several incompetent constables, Foxe must resort to breaking the law himself to bring the murderer to justice — and work out how thousands of pounds have been stolen from one of Norwich’s leading banks, without them noticing anything was missing.
Was Eleanor Melanus really as black as she was painted? Or was it her ill fortune to be both desirable and not too bright — a woman alternately used and betrayed by the men around her? Either way, Foxe must face down a pitiless criminal enterprise to discover what really went on in the Melanus household … and in the bank next door.
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Category Archives: Tid-bits
The Georgian Way with People ‘Passing off’ or Short Measure
Giving short measure or trying to pass-off substandard goods is not a modern phenomenon. As the following notice from The Norwich Mercury of December, 1757 shows, the masters of the trade guilds sometimes took strong action against those who threatened … Continue reading
A Quarrel at the Dinner Table
Here‘s proof that feelings about the correct ordering of meals could run high, even amongst genteel Georgian ladies. The piece comes from a Norwich newspaper of 1772. “I went a few days ago to dine in the country with … Continue reading
Private Education in 18th-century Norfolk
The following advertisement appeared in the Norfolk Chronicle for 27th June, 1780. EDUCATION. Mr RIVETT, Writing-master, Accountant, Teacher of Mathematical and Philosophical Sciences at East Dereham, in Norfolk, tenders his respectful Acknowledgements to those Gentlemen and Ladies who have obliged … Continue reading
“Concerning Buggs”
Katherine Windham’s Book of Cookery and Housekeeping of 1707, transcribed by my friends Bonnie Lovelock and Roger Sykes, contains much more than cooking recipes. There are also various medicines, human and animal, and practical household tips such as these. In her … Continue reading
A True Gentleman of the Road
From the Ipswich Journal. Highwaymen were rarely this kind. August 7th 1773 On Friday evening last as two ladies and a gentleman were coming by post chaise from Ingatestone to Chelmsford, they were attacked by a highway man within a … Continue reading
An Intriguing Variant on Wife Selling
The following item was printed in the Ipswich Journal. It could be a variant form of the well-attested practice of wife-selling, or it could have been a ploy all along to get hold of a fine animal to sell, since … Continue reading
The 18th-Century Gutter Press
Observers from continental European countries during the 18th century were amazed – and envious – at the lack of censorship in Britain. There were some laws against too free a use of the printing press, such as the charge of … Continue reading
