Ah, those gullible new American millionaires of the late 19th century. After first enriching themselves through railroad development, the shipping trade, or other robber-baron enterprises, many sought to manifest their sophistication by purchasing great European works of art. "I suspect we may be...
DEATH & THE JUBILEE (Hist. Mys-Lord Francis Powerscourt-England-1897) - VGDickinson, David – 2nd in seriesConstable, 2003, UK Hardcover – ISBN: 1841195847First Sentence: One nondescript room at the top of the War Office in London had become the nerve center of the British Empire.London is excit...
First sentence: "Come, Powerscourt, come."It is January of 1892 and the eldest son of the Prince of Wales has been found dead in his bed. The tale that has come down through history is that he died from a bad bout of influenza, but what if instead his death was caused by a murder that was covered...
In February 1902, a feast is held at the Inns of Court, during which senior barrister Alexander Dauntsey collapses and dies. When a second barrister is shot dead shortly after, Lord Francis Powerscourt is summoned to conduct a discreet investigation. His inquiries take him to the heart of legal L...
He smiled at the chief counsel for the prosecution, Sir Jasper Bentinck, and made a slight bow to the judge, Mr Justice Black. The court was full, with the members of the public crammed into their seats and looking forward to the show. It was not every day after all that you could see a senior me...
You mustn’t tell a soul.’ One hour after the 157 times tables Powerscourt was being rushed to an emergency meeting at the British Museum. Inspector Kingsley looked as though he hadn’t slept properly for days. He hadn’t yet told Powerscourt the reason for their journey, driven at top speed across ...
A plié is a bending of the knees, a bending action where the knees bend over the toes while the dancer’s heels remain on the floor. A demiplié is simply a small bending of the knees while a grand-plié is a full bending of the knees where the heels do actually come off of the floor. Pliés assist a...
The one in Moscow would surely bring more hatred and division to a country that already suffered from a surfeit of both. The one in Kent might bring an end to the family Martin, for, as far as Powerscourt knew, there were no children of the marriage. De Chassiron was scrabbling through a little b...
It sat happily on a small table in the front hall of the Powerscourt residence in London’s Chelsea. Indeed it looked as if the person in charge of wrapping the parcel believed it would only survive the journey if virtually encased in strong twine. The top had so many lines criss-crossing it that ...
‘He’s always been here on the most difficult cases.’ She and Powerscourt were back in the Hôtel St Jacques preparing to compile a list of the pilgrims and their whereabouts on the day John Delaney died. It was, Powerscourt had said, time to begin the work that brought them to the Auvergne, the un...
Jack Hayward looked at the Inspector and at Powerscourt. ‘Of course,’ he began. ‘I have to warn you gentlemen that I have been over and over all this so many times in my mind that I sometimes wonder if I am making parts of it up. Anyway, it started with a knock at my door, a loud knock, very earl...
Colonel Arbuthnot was coming his way. He was small, about five feet eight inches tall, with a handlebar moustache and a Roman nose. He fiddled constantly with a white rose in his buttonhole, as if he was on his way to a wedding. Powerscourt stepped out of the shadows into the middle of the road. ...
‘Are you sure?’ ‘I can only go by what the butler said, my lord,’ William McKenzie replied. ‘And I didn’t want to press him too hard about the Thursday services. It might have seemed suspicious when I was meant to be working on a book about the moated houses of England.’ ‘What exactly did he say ...