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"August, 1856. Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens are spending the summer at Knebworth House, the magnificent Hertfordshire home of fellow writer Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton, where they are putting on a charity performance of one of Lord Edward's most successful plays, The Lady of Lyon. But the dress rehearsal is disrupted by the discovery of a body lying in the centre of the stage, shot to death. With everyone involved in the play coming under suspicion, the two writer-sleuths feel compelled to investigate. Their enquiries unearth a number of scandalous secrets lurking among the writers, artists and actors assembled at Knebworth. Secrets that stretch back more than twenty years. Secrets that will have devastating repercussions for the present."--Provided by publisher.… (más)
1856 Collins and Dickens are guests of Dickens' friend Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton at his home, Knebworth House, where they are presenting a play for charity. The peace is disturbed by his estranged wife, Lady Rosina. But soon Collins and Dickens find themselves investigating a murder. But who was the intended victim and what secrets will be exposed. Another entertaining and well-written historical mystery with its well-developed and likeable characters. A good addition to the series which can be read as a standalone story An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )
As readers of historical mysteries know, the genre has all sorts of sub-genres. One of this is Charles Dickens/Wilkie Collins mysteries—and, yes, there are several of these series out there. Cora Harrison's is definitely my favorite, with complex plotting and Wilkie narrating in a way that acknowledges all Dickens' foibles without losing its affection for him.
Summer of Secrets is the best-plotted yet of these volumes. Several times, I though I had everything figured out, but then would discover—via Collins and Dickens—a gap in my theory that I hadn't anticipated. Set on the estate of a wealthy lord, this mystery is built around an amateur theatrical, directed by Dickens, and raising funds for a recent widow and her children. The amateur cast (two professional actresses are added in at the last minute) includes a group of well-know writers, articsts, and publishers. Relationships among all of them are mostly cordial, but each with its underlying tensions.
This is a great title to start with if you're cusious about historical mysteries or the Dickens/Collins sub-genre, but it will also please readers who have already been enjoying such books.
I received a free electronic review copy of this book from the publisher; the opinions are my own. ( )
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
"My dear Collins, take my word for it."
Citas
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
In the miserable monotony of the lives lead by a large section of the middle classes of England, anything is welcome to the women which offers them any sort of harmless refuge from the established tyranny of the principle that all human happiness begins and ends at home.
Wilkie Collins, Armadale (Chapter 1, epigraph)
There are periods in a man's life when he finds the society that walks on four feet a welcome relief from the society that walks on two.
Wilkie Collins, The Fallen Leaves, 1879 (Chapter 2, epigraph)
But in these modern times it may be decidedly asserted as fact, that vice, in accomplishing the vast majority of its seductions, uses no disguise at all; instead appears impudently in its naked deformity; and, instead of horrifying all beholders, in accordance with the prediction of the classical satirist, absolutely attracts a more numerous congregation of worshippers than has ever yet been brought together by the divinest beauties that virtue can display for the allurement of mankind.
Wilkie Collins, Hide and Seek (Chapter 4, epigraph)
I have always held the old-fashioned opinion that the primary object of a work of fiction should be to tell a story.
Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White (Chapter 6, epigraph)
She had been weeping; that was obvious, but she pulled herself together with a magnificent self-control that I had to admire. I told myself that if I ever had children, I would insist on them having stage-training. The ability to act a part, to cover up one's feelings, to present a chosen face to the public -- what a start in life to have that skill at your fingertips! (Chapter 8, p.102)
We had our breakfasts -- no matter what happens in a house, robbery or murder, you must have your breakfast.
Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone (Chapter 12, epigraph)
The face in front of me had all its bland assurance peeled from it and it was the guilty face of a murderer. He himself had said. 'There is nothing so agonizing to the fine skin of vanity as the application of a rough truth,' and the blotched, reddened skin of his face and the panic-filled eyes betrayed that he had heard that rough truth. (Chapter 15, p.207)
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Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
'And,' said Dickens grimly, 'I'm sure that we can both trust Lord Edward to keep his side of the bargain and allow Lady Rosina the comforts due her station in life.'
The Woman in White was set to bring me fame and fortune for the rest of my life and perhaps for even hundreds of years in the future, and her appearance at Knebworth in that month of July had been the inspiration for my most successful book. (Epilogue)
"August, 1856. Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens are spending the summer at Knebworth House, the magnificent Hertfordshire home of fellow writer Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton, where they are putting on a charity performance of one of Lord Edward's most successful plays, The Lady of Lyon. But the dress rehearsal is disrupted by the discovery of a body lying in the centre of the stage, shot to death. With everyone involved in the play coming under suspicion, the two writer-sleuths feel compelled to investigate. Their enquiries unearth a number of scandalous secrets lurking among the writers, artists and actors assembled at Knebworth. Secrets that stretch back more than twenty years. Secrets that will have devastating repercussions for the present."--Provided by publisher.
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But soon Collins and Dickens find themselves investigating a murder. But who was the intended victim and what secrets will be exposed.
Another entertaining and well-written historical mystery with its well-developed and likeable characters. A good addition to the series which can be read as a standalone story
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. (