Author:Carol Goodman
August Penrose created the stained glass 'Lady Window' to adorn the chapel of the university he founded for the daughters of the women who worked in his factory, the Rose Glass Works. Depicting his wife, Eugenie, as the Lady of Shallot, it's a mesmerising portrait that has come to embody the spirit of the school itself. But now, eighty years after it was created, the Lady Window is due for restoration. The task falls to former alumna Juno McKay. She's restoring it with the help of her friend, Christine Webb, an art historian who is researching the window for her thesis. Christine seems to have discovered some new evidence that suggests that Clare, not her sister Eugenie, was the subject for the Lady Window. But before Christine can discuss her findings with Juno, she's found dead in a boating accident that eerily echoes that fate of the Lady of Shallot. But did she drown or was it something more sinister? As Juno starts to make her own investigations into just how Christine died, she learns more about Augustus Penrose and his family. The Lady Window was not the only thing the Penroses' bequeathed to the world. Madness and deception also form part of their legacy-
At last, a real rival for Ian Rankin's Rebus
—— Middlesborough Evening GazetteA gritty portrayal of gangland violence and crime - A compelling and menacing page-turner
—— Daily MailGritty and menacing
—— Heat'Gruelling, exciting, eventful...cleanly and crisply written, with a vein of sardonic asides'
—— Literary ReviewThe writing is as ever fluid and pacey, the characterisation deft and the plot fresh and ingenious
—— Independent on SundayAtmospheric, hugely beguiling and as filled with tricks and sleights of hand as a magician's sleeve... this is English gothic at its eccentric best; a combination of Ealing comedy and grand opera: witty, charismatic, occasionally touching and with a genuine power to thrill
—— Joanne HarrisA writer of extraordinary imagination
—— Sunday ExpressThe striking gothic setting of London under fire proves fruitful ground for a bizarre dark comedy of an investigation... bawdy, unpredictable and at times hilarious, with a cast of wonderful grotesques
—— Maxim Jakubowski , GuardianFowler belongs with the mythographers of London: Iain Sinclair, Peter Ackroyd
—— New StatesmanIts combination of Grand Guignol and place setting does command attention
—— Metro LondonOriginal, moving and entertaining for adults as well as for older children
—— Julia Donaldson , Daily ExpressA deservedly acclaimed read.
—— Time Out London