About this item
Heiress Prudence MacKenzie is a valuable partner to attorney Geoffrey Hunter, despite the fact that women are not admitted to the bar in New York's Gilded Age. And though their office is a comfortable distance from the violence that haunts the city's slums, the firm of Hunter and MacKenzie is about to come dangerously close to an unstoppable killer . . .LIES THAT COMFORT AND BETRAY The murders in Whitechapel are shocking enough to make news worldwide, and in the autumn of 1888, Geoffrey and Prudence find the stories in the New York Herald quite unsettling. But London is not the only city to be terrorized by a mad butcher. Nora Kenny makes the occasional journey on the Staten Island ferry to work in Prudence's Fifth Avenue house, just as her mother once served Prudence's mother. As little girls, they played freely together, before retreating into their respective social classes. Still, they remain fond of each other. But when Nora slips away to Saint Anselm's one chilly Saturday to confess her sins and never returns, Prudence is alarmed. And when Nora's body is discovered in a local park, Prudence is devastated. Nora will not be the only young woman to fall victim, but the police are uncertain what they are dealing with. Has the Ripper sailed across the Atlantic to find a new hunting ground? Is some disturbed soul copying his crimes? A former Pinkerton agent, Geoffrey intends to step in where the New York Metropolitan Police seem to be failing, and Prudence is just as determined to protect the poor, vulnerable females being targeted. But a killer with a disordered mind and an incomprehensible motive may prove too elusive for even this experienced pair to outwit. From the author of What the Dead Leave Behind, this is a suspenseful and richly atmospheric mystery that captures both the elegance and sophistication of nineteenth-century New York, and the secrets and bloody terrors that lurked behind its gilded facades.
About the Author
Rosemary Simpson was born in New York City and almost immediately began roaming. By the time she entered college she had traveled extensively throughout the United States, the Far East, and Europe where she found a second home in France. After returning to the United States she earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in French language and literature. She currently lives near Tucson, Arizona.Rosemary's favorite novel has always been Anya Seton's classic work of historical fiction, KATHERINE. (She's read and reread her way through three editions that were usually held together with tape and rubber bands until another could be bought.) The fascination lies in an inherent conflict between what we know actually happened and the frequent and gaping holes in the historical record. Sometimes there are only a few verifiable facts on which to build a story and recreate a past event. That's the writer's greatest and most enjoyable challenge. She can only make up what can't be proven and cannot violate the integrity of what is known. Writing historical fiction often means wandering through the most obscure, wonderful, and frightening byways of time and geography, WHAT THE DEAD LEAVE BEHIND (available April 25, 2017) is the first mystery in a series set in Gilded Age New York City. It begins with one of many deaths in the Great Blizzard of 1888 and ends with the promise of a uniquely independent future for its wealthy and unconventional heroine. Real life historical figures lend authenticity and a sense of familiarity to this bygone era of extravagant wealth and widespread political corruption. The second volume, LIES THAT COMFORT AND BETRAY, (available January 2018) takes protagonists Prudence MacKenzie and ex-Pinkerton Geoffrey Hunter deeper into the underworld that lies beneath society's glittering facade.Before turning to the world of historical mysteries, Rosemary wrote two standalone novels of straight historical fiction. THE SEVEN HILLS OF PARADISE is the story of the Fourth Crusade, told from the dual perspectives of two men who survived the sack of Constantinople in 1204 and returned to France to record their epic adventures. Geoffroi de Villehardouin was one of the leaders of the crusade, while Robert de Clari was among the poorest of the knights who took the cross. "Absorbing, convincing, graphic and accurate...this novel belongs alongside those of Maurice Druon and Zoe Oldenbourg." (The Atlanta Constitution) DREAMS AND SHADOWS is a sweeping historical novel set in colonial Morocco, New York in the Roaring Twenties, and wartorn Paris during the Nazi Occupation. Based on stories told by family members who remained in Paris throughout the war, the novel seamlessly weaves together fact and fiction. Publishers Weekly said, "Simpson's hauntingly graceful, dignified prose makes this tale unforgettable, as do its unflagging intensity, realism and chilling conclusion."
