Fool's Gold (Lord Ambrose Mysteries) [Paperback]

Jane Jakeman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lord Ambrose Mysteries | Publication Date: February 7, 2006

Jane Jakeman is back, with her signature "crisp, vividly evocative prose, interesting people, arresting plot, and unusual background."* More consuming than any mystery is Lord Ambrose's ardor for a down-on-her-luck governess. To have her hand would bring him untold joy, but when she refuses his proposal, Ambrose smarts from the pain-and has a premonition of something awful.

Governess Elisabeth has taken up a post as companion to Lady Jesmond when the family doctor is poisoned to death. It looks like a suicide, but couldn't be. Elisabeth knows that the one person capable of solving this mystery is Ambrose. And soon, he too is embroiled in the sinister goingson at Jesmond Place.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Jakeman's ingeniously plotted third Lord Ambrose historical (after 2005's The Egyptian Coffin), the relationship between Lord Ambrose and Elisabeth Anstruther deepens, despite her rejection of his marriage proposal. In May of 1833, Elisabeth takes a position as companion to Lady Jesmond, who lives at Jesmond Place in the secluded West Country village of Combwich. A few weeks later, Elisabeth summons Ambrose to the village, where he finds her in a rundown and unsettled household, one of whose members, a young doctor, has just been poisoned. Not even a second death, following hard on the doctor's funeral, can convince Elisabeth to leave Jesmond, so Ambrose installs one of his own friends at Jesmond Place while he goes to Oxford to pursue his investigations. While minor characters aren't as fully realized as the principals, two Oxford dons, in conversations with Lord Ambrose, serve to add insight into the nature of scientific thought and inquiry in the early 19th century, a time when the line between science and superstition frequently wavered. (Feb.)
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About the Author

Jane Jakeman is an art historian who has travelled in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. She studied English at the University of Birmingham and has a doctorate from Oxford University in the architectural history of Islamic Cairo.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (February 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425207773
• ISBN-13: 978-0425207772
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,642,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great Ambrose historical mystery, February 8, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fool's Gold (Lord Ambrose Mysteries) (Paperback)

In 1833, for the first time in his life, Lord Ambrose finds a passionate desire to be with Elisabeth Anstruther, the governess to Edmund Crawshay, whose parents were recently murdered. Ambrose arranged for the child to be educated while proposing marriage to the lovely Elisabeth. To his dismay she refuses to wed him and instead accepts a post as a companion to Lady Jesmond, about thirty miles from Ambrose's home Malfine.

Elisabeth and Ambrose exchange letters in which she tells him that her companion wants to learn French and that Sir Antony of Jesmond Place is an invalid cared for by young Dr. John Kelsoe. However, the last correspondence states that Dr. Kelsoe was found dead in his bed; local Dr. Langbridge found a vial of prussic acid near the corpse so declared suicide by poisoning, but Elisabeth has doubts as he was in good spirits. Ambrose arrives more to insure the safety of his beloved though he knows part of accomplishing this includes investigating whether a homicide occurred.

As with LET THERE BE BLOOD and THE EGYPTIAN COFFIN, the latest Ambrose historical mystery is a delightful tale that brings to life 1830s England's West Country inside a strong investigative tale. Ambrose is terrific as he is in love, but the woman of his dreams though she likes him and perhaps loves him, believes she must move on in her life. The inquiry into whether a murder or a suicide occured is deftly handled so that the audience keeps wondering and wanting to know more as Jane Jakeman provides a wonderful entry in one of the best early nineteenth century mystery series.

Harriet Klausner

3.0 out of 5 stars interesting, September 26, 2009

By 

Bronwyn Willett - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fool's Gold (Lord Ambrose Mysteries) (Paperback)

This was my least favorite of the three books in this series but it was not a bad read. The use of poison as the murder weapon and the method of delivery to the victims was creative.