Voortbouwend op haar uitgebreide achtergrond in kunstgeschiedenis, creëert Janet Gleeson verhalen die de wereld van kunst en antiek belichten. Haar schrijfwerk biedt lezers een unieke kijk om de geschiedenis en esthetische waarde van diverse werken te waarderen. Gleeson duikt in de complexiteit van de kunstmarkt en de blijvende erfenis van meesterschilders, waardoor complexe onderwerpen toegankelijk en boeiend worden.
Aims to help the new collector in successful purchasing. Would-be buyers need not be experts to understand the tips which will help them authenticate, date and identify antiques - and spot the fakes. All the major areas are covered, from furniture and pottery to art deco and dolls.
On New Year's Day 1755, Nathaniel Hopson, a journeyman to renowned cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale, becomes embroiled in a sinister mystery. While at Lord Montfort's country home, he discovers the lord shot dead in his new library. Though it appears to be suicide due to Montfort's gambling debts and melancholic demeanor, Nathaniel is skeptical. The evidence—a gun near Montfort's hand, blood on the windowsill, and confusing footprints—raises questions. Additionally, Montfort clutches an intricately carved box of rare grenadillo wood. As Nathaniel reluctantly steps into the role of investigator, another body is found, brutally mutilated, and he recognizes the victim. This revelation complicates matters, as he wonders what the victim was doing on Montfort's estate. Nathaniel's quest for answers leads him from opulent drawing rooms to the grim realities of Fleet Street and London's Foundling Hospital, where the identity of a child abandoned two decades earlier may be crucial. With danger lurking at every turn, Nathaniel realizes that someone will kill to protect the secret he seeks. This intricately woven tale serves as both a captivating detective story and a vivid portrayal of eighteenth-century England, showcasing the debut of a remarkably talented writer.
The true story of John Law, gambler, mathematical genius - and killer, and his role in the history of money. Three centuries ago, wealth was in the form of gold and silver. LawA A*s ideas revolutionised finance: he set up one of the first banks to issue paper money. A successful system today but for John Law it ended in disaster.
Imprisoned in a fairy-tale castle and under constant threat of execution by his ruthless captor an 18th century apothecary struggled to realize the alchemist's dream.
"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.". "In Millionaire, Janet Gleeson reconstructs this epic drama where fortunes were made and lost, paupers grew rich, and lords fell into penury - and a modern fiscal philosophy was born. Her tale reveals two great characters: John Law, with his complex personality and inscrutable motives, and money itself."--BOOK JACKET.
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? 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. TAKER is a spellbinding novel of crime, chicanery and cooking.
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.
Südengland, 1766: Auf dem großzügigen Anwesen der Familie Bentnick laufen die Vorbereitungen für die Hochzeit des Hausherrn. Doch dann wird im Palmenhaus ein unbekannter Toter gefunden. Was hatte ihn hierher geführt? Und wem gehört das wertvolle Smaragdcollier, das plötzlich im Landhaus auftaucht? Der Maler Joshua Pope, der den Hausherrn und dessen Braut porträtieren sollte, sieht sich plötzlich in einem Netz aus Eifersucht, Rache und Besitzgier gefangen … Ein kunstvoller historischer Krimi aus England. Für alle LeserInnen von Frank Schätzing und David Liss.
England im 18. Jahrhundert: Lord Montfort wird in seiner Bibliothek tot aufgefunden. War es Mord oder Selbstmord? Der Tote hält ein fein gearbeitetes Holzkistchen in der Hand, am Boden verstreut liegen Möbelentwürfe des berühmten Londoner Kunstschreiners Thomas Chippendale. Doch weder ihm noch der blutjungen Witwe noch dem Sohn des Toten scheint viel an der Aufklärung des Falls zu liegen. Dann wird im Gartenteich eine weitere Leiche gefunden…
