Overview

'A beautiful sensory overload . . . I didn't want it to end.' - Kirstin Innes, bestselling author of Scabby Queen Three women. A deadly score to settle. EDINBURGH, 1791. Isobel Duguid and her friend, the famous castrato Clessidro, are stars of the Edinburgh Musical Society. Despite her cavalier attitude towards holding a tune, Clessidro's friendship and her own shocking murder ballads keep Isobel on stage and enjoying an opulent lifestyle in Auld Reekie. Yet one night a note arrives from the mysterious Mrs Abercorn, regarding Isobel's most notorious song, The Fiddler's Wrath. It's the tale of a prima donna who died of heartbreak after her husband committed murder and was sent to the gallows. Isobel is intrigued. But Mrs Abercorn's curiosity is far more than a fickle interest and the truth is more complicated than anyone could have imagined. As Isobel recounts rising through the social classes, her role in this ill-fated tune is brought to light, awakening the chilling retribution of a once buried secret. A story of betrayal, mystery, and the secrets some would die to protect. Perfect for fans of Patrick Sskind Perfume and Kate Foster's The Maiden. 'This glorious romp through the filth, greed and duplicity of 18th century Edinburgh is a feminist delight. Highly recommended.' - Mary Paulson-Ellis 'A wildly original and alarmingly readable historical novel whose dark, blood-soaked narrative takes us by surprise at every turn.' - Andrew Taylor 'Tales of opera singers and murderers, of cobbled streets and Old Town tenements, of audacious women and what can befall them. The writing is sublime, I loved every word.' - Elissa Soave

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9781785305375

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Reviews

This glorious romp through the filth, greed and duplicity of 18th century Edinburgh is a feminist delight. Written with passion and musicality it is both hugely enjoyable and stuffed to the gunnels with the appetites of life. Highly recommended. -- Mary Paulson-Ellis Lucy Ribchester has the power to take her readers to the heart of 18th-century Auld Reekie where she regales them with tales of opera singers and murderers, of cobbled streets and Old Town tenements, of audacious women and what can befall them. The writing is sublime, I loved every word. -- Elissa Soave A gripping and grisly tale of opera, art and ownership set in 18th century Edinburgh. -- Lynsey May A wildly original and alarmingly readable historical novel whose dark, blood-soaked narrative takes us by surprise at every turn. Lucy Ribchester brings to life the musical culture, both high and low, of eighteenth-century Edinburgh through the lives of a handful of women. Brilliantly written, the story is punctuated with violent deaths and abrupt, neatly-plotted reversals. Its protagonist, Isobel Duguid, is frankly unforgettable. -- Andrew Taylor What a marvel it is. The plot is fabulous and as convoluted as all those labyrinthine old town closes. I had no idea of the history of the ballads or of the theatres in the old town so that was fascinating and inhabited by wonderfully vivid characters. -- Linda Cracknell

Author Information

Lucy Ribchester was born in Edinburgh. She has a first-class degree in English from the University of St Andrews and a Masters in Shakespeare Studies from Kings College London & Shakespeare's Globe. In 2013 she received a New Writers Award from The Scottish Book Trust. She has since won a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship, and been shortlisted for the COSTA Short Story Award and Manchester Fiction Prize. Her first novel, The Hourglass Factory was longlisted for the Historical Writers Association Debut Crown, picked by Val McDermid for her New Blood panel at Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, and selected by Waterstones' Edinburgh branches as their Book of the Year. Lucy also covers dance, books and children's events for Scotland's The List magazine, and writes contemporary thrillers under the name Elle Connel.

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