Book description
Summer, 1765. The renowned portrait painter Joshua Pope is eager to
escape London and his unhappy past and accepts a commission to paint a
wedding portrait for Herbert Bentnick and his bride-to-be, Sabine Mercier.
Joshua learns that the couple are avid horticulturalists. Bentnick's
country house, Astley, in Richmond, is famous for its verdant gardens,
designed by the master landscape artist Capability Brown. Sabine
Mercier, who has lived most of her life in the Indies, is an expert in
growing pineapples, the fruit of choice at the grandest dinner parties
and an inspiration to artists and craftsmen.
But soon after Sabine begins to cultivate pineapples in the vast
conservatory at Astley, she discovers a body among her plants. Why,
wonders Joshua Pope, is so little attention paid to this bizarre
death? Why do Bentnick's children regard their future stepmother with
suspicion and fear? And what connection does Sabine's daughter Violet
have with the dead man?
Outraged that any life can be valued so lightly, Joshua begins to
investigate the death. But then Sabine's valuable emerald necklace
disappears, and he is implicated. His need to discover what has
happened at Astley suddenly becomes more pressing. Can Joshua solve
the mystery before his reputation is ruined? And, more immediately,
can he stay alive long enough to do so?
Following her acclaimed début, THE GRENADILLO BOX, Janet Gleeson
has written another compelling tale of murder and mystery set in an
exquisitely and authentically rendered Georgian England.
Janet Gleeson was born in Sri Lanka, where her father was a tea
planter. After taking a degree in History of Art and English she joined
Sotheby's, and later worked for Bonhams Auctioneers. In 1991 she joined
Reed Books, where she was responsible for devising and writing Miller's
Antiques and Collectibles. She is the author of the Sunday Times
non-fiction bestsellers The Arcanum and The Moneymaker. She is also the
author of three novels, The Grenadillo Box, The Serpent in the Garden
and The Thief-Taker.
