The Grenadillo Box

Book excerpt: This “absolutely absorbing” Georgian-era mystery “blends historical detail with riveting crime drama” (Booklist, starred review). New Year’s Day, 1755. Nathanial Hopson, apprentice to renowned cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale, is called to Cambridge to install a new library in the country home of Lord Montfort. But after a gun goes off during a dinner party at the nobleman’s estate, Montfort is discovered dead on the floor of the library, clutching a lovely carved box of rare grenadillo wood in one hand, a gun discarded near the other. Everyone surmises the death of the ill-humored peer to be a suicide. Everyone, that is, except the discerning Hopson, who is drawn immediately into the investigation. But the bloody business becomes personal when the body of Hopson’s friend is found in the frozen pond on Montfort’s estate. Now the only thing certain is that Hopson’s sleuthing will put him—and the fair beauty aiding his inquiry—in grave danger. “Colorful and wildly entertaining, the novel spins enigma after enigma. . . . A wonderful read.” —The Guardian “An auspicious fiction debut . . . Engaging and enjoyable” —The Observer “[This] compulsive page-turner . . . will appeal especially to anyone who was spellbound by Charles Palliser’s The Quincunx.” —The Daily Mail “[Gleeson’s] portrait of Georgian England is masterly and the mystery—enhanced by her unique and unlikely sleuth—enthrallingly complex.” —Library Journal