Customer Reviews

The Painted Lady (Christopher Redmayne)

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A murder mystery set in restored London after the London Fire, about 1670 called the Parliament House by Edward Marston. This was a quick reead (my favorite) with little bits of historical information spattered here and there, without forcing the history down your throat, and thus admirably able to draw you into the story of Christopher and Susan, how their courting will be effected by the attempt on her father's life and Christopher's brother and his life of hedonistic stupidity.

I love historic London, and if I am ever lucky enough to go there, I am sure I will fall in love with the place and have a hard time pulling myself away from it's amazing twisting and turning streets. So this was an easy place for me to fall into and really dig into the story. Now, I am a sucker for a love story, and this story had one in addition to the murder and the attempt on Susan's father. The story moved along at a good pace, had a good number of twists and turns, all the villains got their due coming, and in the end Christopher was able to secure a relationship with the one woman for him. So all in all, a decent book, perhaps not the best I have ever read, and nothing life changing here, but still a worthwhile and enduring story. I definitely recommend this book to lovers of a good historical mystery.

In 17th century London, a group of rakes and ne'er do wells decide to pursue Araminta Jewell, a young, aristocratic beauty, to see which of them could capture her virginity. Their initial plan was thwarted by the marriage of Araminta to an older man, but this pathetic bunch of villians still want to worm their way into her bed and place bets on who would be the winner. When the husband is murdered in his own garden, this fact doesn't deter them and they plan to descend on her at the funeral, en masse, declaring their undying love and devotion. Brilliant young architect Christopher Redmayne, whose brother Henry is one of the reprobates bent on having their way with Araminta, investigates the death of Araminta's husband with the aid of his friend, Constable Jonathon Bale. These two characters have apparently appeared in other mystery books by Edward Marston and are well known amateur sleuths.
It's a mercifully short book.