The Rival Queens (Countess Ashby dela Zouche Book 2)

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Simon Brett A delicious, rollicking romp of a mystery that kept me enthralled. Fidelis Morgan writes just the sort of story I love, full of sensuous details that make history come alive I can't wait to read her next one.

The Rival Queens

Tess Gerritsen I challenge you to open a Fidelis Morgan at any page and not to be grabbed and plunged into a story where the action is non-stop and outrageous. The Countess Ashby de la Zouche books are a joy, written with tremendous energy and flair. It goes without saying that Fidelis has done her history homework, but no one ever made history more fun.

Restoration comedy and action, artifice, gunpowder and Samuel Pepys a perfect historical menu of crime and mystery, with the bonus of laughs aplenty. The Guardian Steeped in period detail and wit, it's a mystery that is as much fun to read as it is to try to solve. Read more Read less.

Books In This Series 4 Books.

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Product details File Size: June 21, Sold by: Related Video Shorts 0 Upload your video. Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. The book possesses a really interesting and engrossing storyline, colourful characters, and is written with a great deal of wit, elegance, and humour. While chasing down what they hope will be the latest society scandal involving the only daughter of a rich City alderman, the Countess and Alpiew, the 'scandal' column reporters for the "London Trumpet" , make the acquittance of Colley Cibber a playwright and actor currently working at Drury Lane.

Always on the lookout for publicity for himself, Cibber invites the Countess and Alpiew to a lecture on the Passions. And because the Countess is again trying to evade the bailiffs for nonpayment of the Poor Rate and because Alpiew is truly interested in attending the lecture the ladies accept Cribber's invitation with some alacrity. The lecture, however, turns out to be instructional in a manner in that neither the Countess nor Alpiew anticipated as they are treated to a very public and bitter squabble between two of Drury Lane's leading actresses: But it is the morning following the lecture that turns out to be the really momentous one for both the Countess and Alpiew.

First, they are greeted with the grim news that Anne Lucas has been murdered. Secondly, the Countess gets arrested by the bailiffs for nonpayment of the Poor Rate.

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And finally, Rebecca Montagu turns up at the Countess's doorstep, intent on hiring both the Countess and Alpiew to discover who Anne Lucas's murderer is and to protect her from her more ardent fans the 'phanatiques'. Desperate for the money so that she can spring the Countess, Alpiew accepts the case with some reluctance, for she cannot rid herself of the feeling that Rebecca Montagu is not to be trusted.

Soon, with the Countess at her side, the duo begins what could be their most frustrating of cases as the most obvious suspect in Anne Lucas's murder seems to be their client Rebecca Montagu , who seems to be playing a deep game of her own, and who seems intent on making a may game of them. The more they dig, the more evidence they come up with that seems to imply Rebecca's guilt. What are they to do? And more importantly, what will it say of their reputations as private inquiry agents if they come up with the evidence that will send their own client to jail for murder?

The action never let up, and the plot unfolded at a brisk and smooth pace that had me fairly devouring the bok until I reached the last page! The storyline was a totally engrossing one, and there were enough cunning plot twists and red herring suspects to keep most mystery buffs happy. Best of all was Fidelis Morgan's prose style, which turned out to be witty, hilarious I esp liked the bits where the Countess would purposely misremember Cibber's name, and address him by a fishy name instead and very graceful.

I really enjoy mystery novels that allows me to appreciate the history and the culture of the period, and "The Rival Queens" fulfilled this requirement admirably.

Hardback Editions

I love this series, the Countess and Alpiew are pure literary gems. I just wanted to let the readers know that this series is seriously slow in making it to the USA. The third and fourth installments "The Ambitious Stepmother" and "Fortune's Slave," have already been released in Britain! Where the Countess and Alpiew have been hired to take a Lady's step-daughter to find a rich husband. It deals with the outbreak of poisionings and sexual intrigues at this deadly court.

I am waiting on the arrival of the fourth book, and can not wait to read it. Unlikelier still, she decides to do something sensible and invest it, caught up in London's new craze for stocks and shares. Overnight fortunes are being made, wealth amassed for nothing in a frenzy of speculation. With these new found riches, anything can be bought; commodities, monkeys But as the Countess and Alpiew learn, investments can go down as well as up.

Helped along by bastions of repectability, bankers and brokers. Soon banking leads to begging, burglary and strange bedfellows! So you can catch up on the ribald adventures of these two loveable, bumbling ladies! A thoroughly enjoyable mystery filled with bawdy humor, highjinks, silliness, and colorful characters, but alas!

The two queens are actually actresses of the London Theatre. I read great reviews of this, so I went ahead and bought 3 volumes of the set. It is ok but. It's advertised as a "romp" - and I think it tries to hard to be one. Also I had no idea what was going on - there was an awful lot of walking around and nothing much being discovered, until the last 20 or so pages.

The denouement was satisfying, but it pretty much came from nowhere. Oct 18, Rachel Stephenson rated it it was ok.

Murder mystery , quite entertaining but very light. Some interesting historical details. The gentle cover really makes me laugh because the book is anything but gentle. This is the second installment in the Countess Ashby de la Zouche mysteries series. We're in the company of our old friends the Countess and her former maid Alpiew for another adventure in Restoration England.

First things first - this book wasn't as good as Unnatural Fire, the first book of the series, perhaps because the first book is funnier and the whole introduction makes it so we have to get accustomed to a The gentle cover really makes me laugh because the book is anything but gentle. First things first - this book wasn't as good as Unnatural Fire, the first book of the series, perhaps because the first book is funnier and the whole introduction makes it so we have to get accustomed to a kind of bawdy and linguistic humour we just don't read about nowadays.

Highlights include a scene in a sex shop even then called 'sex shop' and more heads chopped off than under the guillotine. Pick this one up for a good time! As far as I'm concerned, it has definitely inspired me to dig deeper into Restoration comedy - I already have a few titles in mind to try later: Definitely not as good as 1 but then the "getting to know you" stage is always more interesting I feel.

This one was a bit harder to follow- more characters and a more complex plot. Some plot pieces seemed to come out of left field. A pretty good sense of the period but somehow less vivid than in the first.

Paperback Editions

I enjoy the humor in these especially the ironic aside where Ashby disses Pepys for his silly diary that will surely come to nothing- what could he possibly write about? Mar 23, JL Smither rated it liked it. An interesting light read. When I picked this up, I didn't realize it was a mystery or that it was the second in a series--yes, I just judged the book by its cover.

But it kept me entertained and even guessing a bit over whodunit. It takes place in London in , and the author made a point of dropping in little trivia about the time period to add to the atmosphere. Good for a plane or before-bed reading. Jan 04, Lacey rated it really liked it Shelves: The characters of Alpiew and the Countess were much consistent. The thing I love best about this series is the age of the characters.

Alpiew is in her forties, the Countess is in her sixties and Godrey is just old. It's good to see that the thirst for adventure doesn't end after twenty and that hardships occur to everyday people, even in books. As the stars say, 80 pages in and it was OK, just not what I wanted to read at the moment, so abandoned, for now at least. Hadn't read the previous one it is the 2nd in a series but that wasn't a problem. Aug 31, Randi rated it really liked it.

I found this to be an enjoyable read about two unexpected detective types - an eccentric old countess and her maid.

The timeframe was fun to read about as well - London at the start of the s. May 17, Milynda Guinn moore rated it it was amazing. Like all of the Countess Ashby books this was wonderful. Dec 27, Sue rated it did not like it Shelves: Mar 30, Jdlewis57 rated it liked it. Jan 06, Cece rated it liked it Shelves: A little choppy-if it were a movie the pace of scene switches would produce whiplash-but fun. Good historical novel with a lot of humour. I just couldn't get into this historical mystery, even though it was recommended by my wife.

Just one of those things. The historical color was excellent and disgusting. Barry rated it liked it Nov 25, Mrs N Husband rated it it was amazing Dec 30, Pamela rated it really liked it Aug 31, Stephanie rated it really liked it Jul 15,

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