The Alchemist of Lost Souls (A Bianca Goddard Mystery)
Historical Mystery
4th in Series
Kensington (April 30, 2019)

Synopsis

A dangerous element discovered by Bianca Goddard’s father falls into the wrong hands . . . leading to a chain of multiple murders.

Spring 1544: Now that she is with child, Bianca is more determined than ever to distance herself from her unstable father. Desperate to win back the favor of King Henry VIII, disgraced alchemist Albern Goddard plans to reveal a powerful new element he’s discovered–one with deadly potential. But when the substance is stolen, he is panicked and expects his daughter to help.

Soon after, a woman’s body is found behind the Dim Dragon Inn, an eerie green vapor rising from her breathless mouth. To her grave concern, Bianca has reason to suspect her own mother may be involved in the theft and the murder. As her husband John is conscripted into King Henry’s army to subdue Scottish resistance, Bianca must navigate a twisted and treacherous path among alchemists, apothecaries, chandlers, and scoundrels–to find out who among them is willing to kill to possess the element known as lapis mortem, the stone of death . . .

Excerpt

Spring is a trickster. A stage monkey with churlish disposition. One day she unrolls a carpet of verdant clover laden with buttered poms; then the next she rolls up the carpet like a cartographer and his map; spoiling a glorious display with cloud piss and cold. The weather was not the only thing to succumb to a return of wintry temper. Albern Goddard had too.

His scholarly gown had been replaced with a more practical knee-length version of moth-eaten wool liberally dotted with stains from his chemistries. His beard had lost its length and was trimmed close to his chin. He stared at the ground just beyond his feet, consumed in thought, and turned onto Thames Street. He might have been run over by a wagon and would never have realized it.

No clutch of brats interfered with his stride. This was not a day for loitering or making merry. Business was business and Albern Goddard had serious matters on his mind.

Chief among them was his daughter, Bianca.

He’d never been to her room of “Medicinals and Physickes,” as she preferred to call it. The corner of his mouth turned up. How presumptuous. But in fairness, it would not do for her to label it a room of alchemy. That would land her in a vat of boiling oil, for no woman would dare undertake the dark art without fear of retribution.

So, let her call it this contrived name. It was but the same in his mind.

About the Author

Mary Lawrence lives and farms in Maine and worked in the medical field for over twenty-five years before publishing her debut mystery, The Alchemist’s Daughter (Kensington, 2015). The book was named by Suspense Magazine as a “Best Book of 2015” in the historical mystery category. Her articles have appeared in several publications most notably the national news blog, The Daily Beast. The Bianca Goddard Mystery series also includes Death of an Alchemist, Death at St. Vedast, The Alchemist of Lost Souls, and the fifth title for 2020.

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