An Extravagant Duplicity

Why, yes, the former Beatrice Hyde-Clare is distracted. Having settled comfortably into marriage to the Duke of Kesgrave, she is nevertheless surprised to find herself in an interesting condition. And it has to be that-the unsettling prospect of motherhood-that causes her to overlook the obvious clue that Roger Dugmore had indeed been killed in his sleep. Summoned to the scene of the supposed crime by his grandson, a preening viscount from the country desperate to establish himself in society, she assumes he is trying to draw the attention of Mr. Twaddle-Thum, London's most rapacious gossip.Disgusted, she dismisses the absurd lordship and his concerns.But the duke does not.Oh, no, he notices something is slightly off-the angle of the table, the position of the bed-and a horrified Bea begins to fear that the birth of her child will mean the end of her brilliant career as an investigator.It is not the most pressing concern, of course, not with a murderer on the loose, and she struggles to put it out of her mind as she grapples with an even more daunting possibility: that this peacocking nodcock might be her most diabolical opponent yet.

Why, yes, the former Beatrice Hyde-Clare is distracted. Having settled comfortably into marriage to the Duke of Kesgrave, she is nevertheless surprised to find herself in an interesting condition. And it has to be that-the unsettling prospect of motherhood-that causes her to overlook the obvious clue that Roger Dugmore had indeed been killed in his sleep. Summoned to the scene of the supposed crime by his grandson, a preening viscount from the country desperate to establish himself in society, she assumes he is trying to draw the attention of Mr. Twaddle-Thum, London's most rapacious gossip.Disgusted, she dismisses the absurd lordship and his concerns.But the duke does not.Oh, no, he notices something is slightly off-the angle of the table, the position of the bed-and a horrified Bea begins to fear that the birth of her child will mean the end of her brilliant career as an investigator.It is not the most pressing concern, of course, not with a murderer on the loose, and she struggles to put it out of her mind as she grapples with an even more daunting possibility: that this peacocking nodcock might be her most diabolical opponent yet.

Based on over 20 years' prodigious research, Graham takes the reader on a compelling tour of human history & links alcohol addiction with the destructive behavior of a range of public figures, including tyrants, murderers, politicians & writers. Drawing on the case of famous characters such as Alexander the Great, Joseph Stalin, Joe McCarthy & Ernest Hemingway, this book presents a convincing assessment of how this disorder can adversely affect the behavior of powerful individuals with devastating consequences.

In medieval England, man was the ruler of woman, and the King was the ruler of all. How, then, could royal power lie in female hands? In She-Wolves, celebrated historian, Helen Castor, tells the dramatic and fascinating stories of four exceptional women who, while never reigning queens, held great power: Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France and Margaret of Anjou. These were women who paved the way for Jane Grey, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I - the Tudor queens who finally confronted what it meant to be a female monarch.