Spring of Hope
by Cora Harrison

When an exhibition featuring London’s top engineers results in sudden, violent death, Victorian writer-sleuths Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens investigate.

“Victorian whodunits don’t get much better than this” – Publishers Weekly Starred Review

March, 1859. After the ‘Great Stink’ of the previous summer when Parliament was overwhelmed by the stench of sewage from the River Thames, and with cholera running rife throughout the city, Charles Dickens has a new enthusiasm. Having formed a firm friendship with Joseph Bazalgette, he is assisting the ambitious young engineer in his efforts to find a solution to London’s pollution problem.

Dickens’ friend and fellow writer Wilkie Collins meanwhile is distracted by thoughts of his pretty new housekeeper and her charming daughter. But what does he really know of his new employee’s past – and just who – or what – is making her so frightened?

During an exhibition to showcase London’s top engineers’ plans to solve the sewage issue, proceedings are disrupted by a high-pitched, agonised scream – and the discovery of a blood-soaked body; the result – it would appear – of a terrible accident. Dickens, however, is convinced of foul play, and once again he and Wilkie Collins set about uncovering the shocking truth.

Reviews

“Subtle humor, period ambience, skulduggery, larger-than-life characters, a clever plot, and a satisfying ending”

Booklist on Summer of Secrets

“An inspired premise and compelling characters make the third in this series the best to date”

Kirkus Reviews on Summer of Secrets

“Superior plotting and characterization ... Fans of Harrison's Burren mysteries will be pleased”

Publishers Weekly on Winter of Despair

“A surprising conclusion, coupled with vivid characters, authentic period details, and a constantly zigzagging plot, makes this a good choice for fans of historical murder mysteries”

Booklist on Season of Darkness

“The Victorian atmosphere is thick enough to cut with a knife. The real triumph is Harrison's Dickens: sublimely conceited, short-tempered, self-dramatizing, often bombastic”

Kirkus Reviews on Season of Darkness

Cora Harrison

Cora Harrison turned to writing historical fiction after she retired from teaching to live on a farm near the Burren in the west of Ireland. As well as the Reverend Mother series, she is the author of the ‘Mara’ series of Celtic mysteries, set in sixteenth-century Ireland, and the new Gaslight mystery series set in Victorian London.www.coraharrison.com

View author page

Editions

Spring of Hope by Cora Harrison is available in the following formats

Hardback97807278505151st March 2022147 X 225mm224$28.99
Hardback978072785051530th December 2021147 X 225mm224£20.99
Ebook97814483071661st February 2022N/A240$14.99
Ebook97814483071661st February 2022N/A240£7.99
Paperback978144830717325th June 2024140 X 216mm224$18.99
Paperback978144830717325th April 2024140 X 216mm224£13.99
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