"Devon, April 1759...Newlyweds John Rawlings and Emilia are spending their honeymoon touring the mysterious county of Devon. Arriving in the remote hamlet of Sidmouth, where John wants to sample the health-giving benefits of sea bathing, he and his bride watch a schooner being towed into harbour by local fishermen and immediately deduce that all is not well on board. The gruesome discovery of the body of a young girl, badly beaten and bruised and draped over the figurehead draws the Apothecary into the investigation. He recognises the dead girl as Juliana van Guylder, daughter of a Dutch merchant residing in the port of Topsham. When the girl's brother, Richard, goes missing at the same time, John realises that, honeymoon or no, he is deeply involved in something rather sinister." "Soon the Flying Runners are on the scene, bringing with them Joe Jago, assistant to John Fielding, the Blind Beak of London. Although they know the identity of the dead girl, they are still no further towards finding her killer. Was she murdered by her possessive father, furious with her for her wayward behaviour? Or is the father of her unborn child to blame? If only they could be certain who he was. Perhaps her fiancee, Tobias Wills, exacted a deadly revenge for the betrayal. And where does the violent gang that has been terrorising Exeter, the mysterious Society of Angels, fit in to all this? John Rawlings is determined to find some answers...even if it means putting himself in danger."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Death at St James's Palace is the eighth novel the highly acclaimed Georgian mystery series featuring sleuthing apothecary, John Rawlings. In 1761, famous magistrate John Fielding is to be honoured with a knighthood. Founder of the Runners, London's metropolitan police force, John Fielding is one of several important members of the community who gather at St James's Palace for the investiture. As the invited audience eagerly crane for a first glimpse of the new queen, a terrible accident occurs when one of the crowd tumbles down the great staircase to his death. But not one person saw him begin to fall; even those standing closest to him had their eyes fixed on the royal entrance. Only one person witnessed anything untoward - John Fielding, a blindman. A whispered sentence, an exhalation of breath - these are the only clues available to suggest the fall was no accident. Apothecary John Rawlings, accompanying his friend Fielding to the ceremony, sets out to investigate and is soon drawn into a very intriguing mystery, in which suspicious characters abound. **

The spring of 1765 brings a welcome sense of recovery to the recently widowed Apothecary John Rawlings, but his tentative peace of mind does not last for long: a young child disappears in strange circumstances at the Hellstone Floral Dance and a seemingly omnipresent blind musician is never far away. Whilst this mysterious figure intrigues Rawlings, the case of the missing child alarms him: he feels he must do all in his powers to attempt to rescue the young life. Packed full of colorful historical detail, Death and the Cornish Fiddler is the eleventh book in the highly acclaimed John Rawlings series . . . a new masterpiece from the queen of Georgian fiction.**

A John Rawlings Georgian mystery - Apothecary John Rawlings has been summoned to Devon by his beautiful but unpredictable mistress. Leaving his daughter Rose in the good care of her grandfather, Rawlings sets off for Exeter. His fellow stagecoach passengers are a motley crew, and include a large and talkative German lady, a dance-master and a bare-knuckle fighter known as the Black Pyramid. Before the journeys end a man has been found brutally murdered, and Rawlings is once again drawn into a complex and dangerous intrigue.From Publishers WeeklyAt the start of Lake's lurid 13th Georgian historical (after 2008's Death in Hellfire), apothecary John Rawlings, summoned by his pregnant mistress, joins a London carriage bound for the West Country. Other passengers include Jack Beef (aka the Black Pyramid), a bare-knuckle fighter, and his agent. Rawlings, who does detective work for Sir John Fielding of Bow Street, soon gets embroiled in a murder case after a fellow traveler is bludgeoned to death during an overnight stop at an inn. While the Black Pyramid disappears for many pages, Rawlings, with the help of local constable Tobias Miller and fellow Bow Streeter Joe Jago, manages to track down and interrogate all the other passengers on the ill-fated coach. Coincidences abound, as Rawlings observes midway through his deadlocked investigation. In the end, Lake offers a bizarre, if not wholly original resolution to a mystery that will strike many readers as an 18th-century twist on Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ReviewApothecary John Rawlings crisscrosses Georgian England by stagecoach to uncover the identity of both a murderer and a victim in this latest installment in the long-running series (Death in Hellfire, 2008, etc.). Mr. Rawlings has already given up hope of marrying his ladylove, the free-spirited Marchesa Elizabeth di Lorenzi, when he receives a letter summoning him to her home in Exeter. Dashing for a stagecoach bound there, he finds himself traveling among a motley company including an ill-tempered German spinster, a dancing master, a comely milliner and a formidable yet courtly boxer, the Black Pyramid. Before Mr. Rawlings can reunite with Lady Elizabeth, one of the party is brutally murdered at the last inn of the journey--bludgeoned to death with a savagery that tells the apothecary this is no ordinary highway robbery. Temporarily leaving the case in the hands of the competent local constable, Mr. Rawlings goes to Lady Elizabeth, only to find that in the midst of death we are in life: The Marchesa is enceinte and still will not marry him. She will, however, accept his ministrations and use her considerable influence to help him investigate the suspects. The passengers meet again at a boxing match and a ball, and still Rawlings cannot unravel the mystery until he journeys to Lewes, where he encounters a darker past than he imagined. Rich in period detail and colorful characters, with a neat puzzle, moments of sweetness and a satisfying conclusion, this adventure will please series fans and newcomers alike. --Kirkus Reviews, 15th July 2009Traveling by coach to visit his mistress, apothecary John Rawlings (Death at St. James' Palace) is thrown into a very complicated murder investigation when one of his fellow passengers is killed. Series fans will remember that Rawlings generally investigates for Sir John Fielding, London magistrate and head of the Bow Street runners. This time out, Rawlings is on his own. VERDICT Readers who miss Bruce Alexander and T.F. Banks will like Lake's Georgian procedurals. --Library Journal, 1st July 2009Traveling by coach to visit his mistress, apothecary John Rawlings (Death at St. James' Palace) is thrown into a very complicated murder investigation when one of his fellow passengers is killed. Series fans will remember that Rawlings generally investigates for Sir John Fielding, London magistrate and head of the Bow Street runners. This time out, Rawlings is on his own. VERDICT Readers who miss Bruce Alexander and T.F. Banks will like Lake's Georgian procedurals. --Publishers Weekly, 13th July 2009

John Rawlings, London's effervescent 18th Century apothecary and occasional sleuth, tackles his most intriguing case to date.The scene was an exact replica of the one that had taken place twenty-four hours earlier. John Rawlings stood in the shop at Apothecaries' Hall buying the herb known as true-love. The only difference was that both he and the shop owner were buzzing with intrigue as they discussed the extraordinary outbreak of food poisoning which had stricken the liverymen who attended dinner at the Worshipful Society the previous day. And how Liveryman Alleyn might have died had John not given him the remedy of true-love.Except the following day Liveryman Alleyn does die. Under the brief and guidance of London's famous blind magistrate, John Fielding Rawlings is asked to investigate wether it is a deliberate case of poisoning.But who would want to poison the apothecaries? And were they targeting the Society or specifically the deceased? As John...