Amazon UK £0.99
AmazonUS $1.27
AmazonCA n/a
This title was shortlisted for the July Book of the Month
Novella / Mystery
1794
London /
Staffordshire
e-book only
“Missing treasure. Murder. One ruthless
criminal. And one Bow Street Runner determined to stop him.
In the winter of 1794 Bow Street Runner and
amateur pugilist Dan Foster is assigned to guard a Royal Mail coach. The
mission ends in tragedy when a young constable is shot dead by a highwayman
calling himself Colonel Pepper. Dan is determined to bring Pepper to justice,
but the trail runs cold.
Four months later Dan is sent to Staffordshire
to recover a recently excavated hoard of Roman gold which has gone missing.
Here he unexpectedly encounters Colonel Pepper again. The hunt is back on, and
this time Dan will risk his life to bring down Pepper and his gang.”
Written specifically
as a short novella-style prequel to Ms Boyce’s most excellent first Bloodie Bones novel about Dan Foster
(and indeed, a planned series) I absolutely thoroughly enjoyed this superb tale.
Lucienne Boyce
has a talented gift as a writer, producing stories that hook you straight in and
refuse to let you go until you’ve turned the last page, and even then, leave
you pondering on the plot and characters – and eager for a next adventure!
She creates
believable characters, detailed settings and engrossing plots none of which
outshine the other, or read like a history lesson. On the other hand, I have
learnt more about Georgian London, the Bow Street Runners and how dismal life
for the poor could be in the late 1700s than ever before. Highwaymen have
always been romanticised, the anti-establishment bad-boy heroes of their time, Fatal Coin shows them in a different
light as extremely dangerous risks to innocent travellers.
In addition to
the main story we are treated to a sub-plot glimpse of Dan’s early life, his roots
and background. The whole story, indeed the entire series, is like delving into
a rich, satisfying and gloriously indulgent box of hand-made luxury chocolates.
Whether Fatal Coin is your first encounter with
Dan Foster, or a venture into discovering more about him, this is a most
excellent read, highly enjoyable and most highly recommended.
© Mary Chapple
I'm about to treat myself to this. What a bargain at 99p!
ReplyDeleteand it is a superb read. Lucienne is a terrific writer!
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