Murder Ballad

Lucy Ribchester, MA (Hons) English 2004

From the award-winning author of The Hourglass Factory comes a dark historical mystery set in Edinburgh’s dazzling 18th century music scene. Combining the macabre murder mystery of Patrick Suskind’s Perfume with the feminist slant of Kate Foster’s The Maiden, Murder Ballad explores a tale of friendship, betrayal and deadly secrets.

Isobel Duguid and her friend, the celebrated castrato Clessidro, enjoy an opulent lifestyle as the stars of the Edinburgh Musical Society. Clessidro sings opera and Isobel, despite the objections of the society’s committee, sings dark Scottish ballads, her most notorious being The Fiddler’s Wrath. It’s a tale of a prima donna who died of heartbreak after her husband murdered her lover and was sent to the gallows. But this ballad is more than fiction, and when the truth about The Fiddler’s Wrath comes to light, Isobel must confront ghosts from her own past and face chilling retribution for a secret kept far too long . . .

ISBN: 9781785305375