Janet Gleeson

The first biography of Lady Harriet Spencer, ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales, and devoted sister of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Harriet Spencer was one of the most glamorous, influential, and notorious aristocrats of the Regency period. Intelli

The Remarkable Life of Harriet Spencer, Sister of Georgiana

Privilege and Scandal

The Philanderer, Gambler, and Duelist Who Invented Modern Finance

Millionaire 

Agnes Meadowes is cook to the Blanchards of Foster Lane, the renowned silversmiths. Her quiet world of culinary activity, preparing jugged hare, oyster loaves, almond soup and other delicacies for the family, is a happy refuge from the hustle and bustle of 1750s London. But in a single night everything is to change: the Blanchards' most prestigious and expensive commission, a giant silver wine cooler destined for the house of Sir Bartholomew Grey, is stolen and a sinister chain of events is set in motion. A young apprentice is murdered and a young maid, Rose, disappears. Are these portentous happenings connected? Called upon by her master to investigate 'below stairs', Agnes enters a dark world of hidden secrets, jealousy and murderous intent. Before the game is played out she will be forced to act as mouse to the infamous Thief Taker's cat as she is drawn into a seamy underworld of London crime. And the truth comes at a high price: she must decide how big a sacrifice she is prepared to make to bring the villains to justice. Boasting a heroine who's going to win a multitude of admirers, THE THIEF TAKER is a spellbinding novel of crime, chicanery and cooking.

The Thief Taker

The debut novel from the bestselling author of "The Arcanum" transports readers to 18th century Georgian England for an intricate, romantic tale of murder and intrigue.

The Grenadillo Box

On the death of France's most glorious king, Louis XIV, in 1715, few people benefited from the shift in power more than the intriguing financial genius from Edinburgh, John Law. Already notorious for killing a man in a duel and for acquiring a huge fortune from gambling, Law had proposed to the English monarch that a bank be established to issue paper money with the credit based on the value of land. But Queen Anne was not about to take advice from a gambler and felon. So, in exile in Paris, he convinced the bankrupt court of Louis XV of the value of his idea. Law soon engineered the revival of the French economy and found himself one of the most powerful men in Europe. In August 1717, he founded the Mississippi Company, and the Court granted him the right to trade in France's vast territory in America. The shareholders in his new trading company made such enormous profits that the term "millionaire" was coined to describe them. Paris was soon in a frenzy of speculation, conspiracies, and insatiable consumption. Before this first boom-and-bust cycle was complete, markets throughout Europe crashed, the mob began calling for Law's head, and his visionary ideas about what money could do were abandoned and forgotten.

The Philanderer, Gambler, and Duelist who Invented Modern Finance

Millionaire

The #1 bestseller in England tells the story of the obsessive pursuit of the secret formula to 18th-century Europe's most precious commodity -- fine porcelain.

The Extraordinary True Story

The Arcanum

While working at the home of Lord Montfort, Nathaniel Hopson, a journeyman to master cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale, becomes caught up in an investigation into the supposed suicide of his patron, a melancholy man burdened by debt, in a case complicated by a brutal murder, whose only clue is a carved grenadillo box, in a mystery set in Georgian England. A first novel. 25,000 first printing.

A Novel

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.

The Serpent In The Garden

Ronnie Archer-Morgan

Would It Surprise You to Know... ?

She opened the shagreen box. Couched in gray silk was an emerald necklace, one he had not seen for twenty years. The stones were just as he recalled them: a dozen or more, baguette cut and set in gold links, with a single ruby at the center. Flashes of verdigris, orpiment, and Prussian blue sparkled in the candlelight. The form of this necklace was as disturbing as ever. It had nearly cost him his life. It is the summer of 1765. The renowned and exquisitely dressed portrait painter Joshua Pope accepts a commission to paint the wedding portrait of Herbert Bentnick and his fiancée, Sabine Mercer, to whom Bentnick has become engaged less than a year after the death of his first wife. Joshua has barely begun the portrait when a man's body is found in the conservatory. A few days later, Sabine's emerald necklace disappears, and Bentnick accuses Joshua of theft. The painter is suddenly fighting not only for his reputation but for his life. With a sure understanding of period detail and character, Janet Gleeson creates a richly nuanced tale of greed and revenge that plays out in the refined landscapes and dark streets of eighteenth-century London.

The Serpent in the Garden

'A fascinating, rollercoaster read, very well told.' - Times 'Ronnie has overcome a heart-breaking start in life to achieve great success and no one deserves it more. What a dude, what a life!' - Fiona Bruce For decades, Ronnie Archer-Morgan has brought to life the fascinating, often surprising backstories behind our most cherished heirlooms and household objects on the Antiques Roadshow. Now, he tells his own unlikely story. Born in the fifties to a Sierra Leonean mother battling mental health problems, Ronnie spent his childhood in and out of care. After difficult beginnings, marked by abuse, racism and brushes with both criminals and the police, he got into music, managing to get DJ gigs and, later, worked as a celebrity hairdresser for Vidal Sassoon and Smile in the height of seventies London. A flair for spotting antiques led him to start his own Knightsbridge gallery, ultimately becoming one of the most respected figures in the industry, culminating in a regular spot as an expert on the nation's Sunday favourite, Antiques Roadshow. Told with rich warmth, this is an extraordinary journey from deprivation and abuse to adventure and success against the odds - with stories of the incredible objects which shaped the way. 'A surprising story, like many of the objects he appraises on the Antiques Roadshow' - Kate Adie, broadcaster and bestselling author

Would It Surprise You To Know...?

An in-depth biography of Harriet Spencer, the sister of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and the great-great-great aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, describes the colorful life of one of the most glamorous and notorious figures of the Regency era, detailing her loveless marriage, illicit affairs, and involvement in the political intrigue, scandals, and dramatic events of her time. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.

BIOGRAPHY: HISTORICAL. The life of Harriet Spencer, Countess of Bessborough, was one of both respectability and high scandal. She was born into the wealth and privilege of the Spencer family - and was the great-great-great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales. Harriet became one of the most glamorous and influential women of the Regency age. At a time when marriage was an aristocratic woman's only career choice, Harriet made an excellent match, to Frederick, Viscount Duncannon. But the marriage proved unhappy and Harriet soon embarked on a series of illicit affairs. In Naples she met and fell in love with the handsome young aristocrat Lord Granville Leveson Gower, a man twelve years her junior.And so began the affair that became the last, untold story of enduring love in the Regency period, an open secret within just a tiny circle. A window on aristocratic life at its most intimate, and brings one of the Regency period's most colourful characters vividly to life.

The Life of Georgiana's Sister, Harriet Spencer, Countess of Bessborough

An Aristocratic Affair

In the cellar there was no sound at all except her own breathing and the soft rustle of her skirts. After her eyes had grown accustomed to the dark, she noticed a niche in the wall a yard from where she stood. She saw something there about the size of her fist. Agnes quietly picked it up. It was wrapped in a cloth and surprisingly heavy. . . a pistol, the hilt filthy with mud and dirt. Suddenly she heard the chinking sound of glasses nearby. There was no mistaking the voices now. Before she had time to call out, another door creaked open and the pair emerged from the darkness. Agnes Meadowes is cook to the Blanchards of Foster Lane, the renowned London silversmiths. Preparing jugged hare, oyster loaves, almond soup, and other delicacies for the family has given her a dependable life for herself and her son. But when the Blanchards' most prestigious commission, a giant silver wine cooler, is stolen and a young apprentice murdered, Theodore Blanchard calls on Agnes to investigate below stairs. Soon she is inside the sordid underworld of London crime, where learning the truth comes at a high price.

Janet Gleeson

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