Daughters of Night
London, 1782. Desperate for her politician husband to return home from France, Caroline 'Caro' Corsham is already in a state of anxiety when she finds a well-dressed woman mortally wounded in the bowers of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. The Bow Street constables are swift to act, until they discover that the deceased woman was a highly-paid prostitute, at which point they cease to care entirely. But Caro has motives of her own for wanting to see justice done, and so sets out to solve the crime herself. Enlisting the help of thieftaker, Peregrine Child, their inquiry delves into the hidden corners of Georgian society, a world of artifice, deception and secret lives.
But with many gentlemen refusing to speak about their dealings with the dead woman, and Caro's own reputation under threat, finding the killer will be harder, and more treacherous than she can know. . .
Reviews
A gripping page turner that had me immediately invested in every rounded character, this was a perfect blend of rollicking good read and insightful commentary on on both the past and present. In Caro Corsham, Laura Shepherd-Robinson has created a heroine who is hugely believable and hugely engaging. 5 shining stars from me.
A historical murder-mystery masterpiece".
This book blew me way. Pitch-perfect within the 18th Century world and wholly immersive, it is an exquisite mystery, an exceptional voyage through danger and an extraordinary novel.
This is right up with the best of C. J. Sansom and Andrew Taylor . . . A real treat, for readers of literary, detective and historical fiction
Here’s one where the pages turn all by themselves and the plot doesn’t let you go
Shepherd-Robinson’s ingenious plotting, eagle eye for detail and evocative prose picked me up and dropped me in the underbelly of Georgian London. Like all the best historical fiction it makes the reader think as much about the way we live now as then
DAUGHTERS OF NIGHT brings Georgian London to life in all is seedy glory…
Shepherd-Robinson builds on her addictive debut, BLOOD & SUGAR, with this outstanding sequel…
Robinson would be advised to clear her shelves for more awards.
Shepherd-Robinson is fascinating on women’s portrayal in art, on the English obsession with the classics and on the relationship between vice and virtue and the shades of grey between them. Come for the clever mystery, stay reading late into the night for the vivid, tender portrayal of a world where women are bought, sold and abused, yet fight to retain their vim and dignity. I would gamble what’s left of my virtue on DAUGHTERS OF NIGHT being the best historical crime novel I will read this year.
This is a 500 plus page novel that I gobbled up. It pitched the period perfectly, you got a real sense of what London was like. The attention to detail is exceptional and the plot races along. Loved it.
A plot as intricate and precision-engineered as a Janvierclock…a deeply satisfying novel, reminiscent of Iain Pears’s later work in its feel for historical detail and character, and the way it subtly asks questions about our own age.
An utterly fascinating trawl through the Georgian demimonde ensues, covering everything from the bestselling directory of London sex workers, Harris’s List, to the auctioning of maidenheads, the appalling ravages of venereal disease and a lightly fictionalised version of the notorious Hellfire Club. Niftily plotted, vivid and thoroughly researched, this immersive – if wrist-spraining – 569-pager is highly recommended.
A delectable whodunnit oozing with menace and lively period language.
[an] intricately written and absorbing historical crime thriller
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