Pale as the Dead
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
This is the first stunning installment of Fiona Mountain's riveting new mystery series that uncovers the secrets of the dead. Pale as the Dead deals with the mysterious death of Lizzie Siddal, a real and fascinating historical figure whose beauty and tragic life have made her into a legend. (She was the model for the famous painting on the cover of the book.) Lizzie's death has always been shrouded in mystery. She is perhaps best known for the macabre story that tells of her husband, the Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, having her coffin dug up to retrieve some poems he had buried with her. When the coffin was opened, Lizzie was said to be as beautiful as the day she died.
Pale as the Dead is the story of how the disappearance of a young girl, Bethany, appears to be linked in some way to Lizzie Siddal. Our detective is Natasha Blake, a complex young genealogist with a passion for history. Natasha's career choice is partly driven by the mystery of her own roots--she was abandoned in the hospital as a newborn.
Her mother disappeared hours after giving birth, leaving a false name and address and a note on the back of a picture postcard that said simply, "Her name is Natasha."
Natasha is hired by the missing girl's lover, Adam, whose own life seems to have plenty of dark shadows. An old diary and famous graveyard lead Natasha into more danger than she bargains for--some people will do ANYTHING to keep a secret!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Students of the Pre-Raphaelites, perhaps more than whodunit fans, will welcome British author Mountain's literate debut mystery introducing genealogist Natasha Blake. Still struggling with the scars caused by her belated discovery that she was adopted, the sympathetic Natasha finds herself venturing beyond her usual line of inquiry when Bethany Marshall, a young woman who had modeled for a series of art photographs, disappears. Suspecting that there may be a connection between Bethany and the Victorian model Lizzie Siddal, the suicidal wife of the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Blake taps her network of researchers to test her theories. Her activities lead her into an ambiguous relationship with Adam Mason, Bethany's boyfriend, and possible peril from mysterious figures who follow her and break into her flat. She diligently pursues numerous trails, encountering a fair number of dead ends before hitting on a clue to Bethany's past that could provide evidence relevant to some suspicious sudden deaths. An anticlimactic resolution may leave readers feeling a bit cheated. Still, the premise of a genealogist sleuth holds plenty of potential, which hopefully the author will better realize in her next entry in the series.
