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    Death of an Alchemist
    Death of an Alchemist
    Death of an Alchemist
    Ebook351 pages8 hours

    Death of an Alchemist

    By Mary Lawrence

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    “Colorful alchemical lore and a vividly imagined 1543 London enrich Lawrence’s engaging . . . sequel to . . . The Alchemist’s Daughter.”—Publishers Weekly

    In the mid sixteenth century, Henry VIII sits on the throne, and Bianca Goddard tends to the sick and suffering in London’s slums, where disease can take a life as quickly as murder . . .
     
    For years, alchemist Ferris Stannum has devoted himself to developing the Elixir of Life, the reputed serum of immortality. Having tested his remedy successfully on an animal, Stannum intends to send his alchemy journal to a colleague in Cairo for confirmation. But the next day his body is found and the journal is gone. 
     
    Bianca, the daughter of an alchemist, is well acquainted with the mystical healing arts. When her husband John falls ill with the sweating sickness, she dares to hope Stannum’s journal could contain the secret to his recovery. But first she must solve the alchemist’s murder. As she ventures into a world of treachery and deceit, Stannum’s death is only the first in a series of murders—and Bianca’s quest becomes a matter of life and death, not only for her husband, but for herself . . .
     
    Praise for The Alchemist’s Daughter

    “Unique characters, a twisty plot and a bold, bright heroine . . . Mystery and Tudor fans alike will raise a glass to this new series.”—Karen Harper, New York Times bestselling author

    “A realistic evocation of 16th century London’s underside. The various strands of the plot are so skillfully plaited together.”—Fiona Buckley, author of the Ursula Blanchard Mysteries
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKensington Books
    Release dateFeb 1, 2016
    ISBN9781617737138
    Death of an Alchemist
    Author

    Mary Lawrence

     Mary Lawrence lives in Maine and worked in the medical field for more than twenty-five years before publishing her debut mystery, The Alchemist's Daughter (Kensington, 2015). The book was named by Suspense Magazine a "Best Book of 2015" in the historical mystery category. Her articles have appeared in several publications, including the national news blog The Daily Beast. She has also written Death of an Alchemist and Death at St. Vedast in the Bianca Goddard mystery series. Visit the author at www.marylawrencebooks.com.

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    Reviews for Death of an Alchemist

    4/5

    15 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A puzzling Tudor mystery.A brilliant depiction of life and death in Henry's LondonFerris Stannum has discovered the elixir of life. A secret many would kill for.And perhaps this is happening because alchemists are dying. A mysterious illness is affecting others and at the heart is Bianca Goddard who is searching for a way to distill her herbals using alchemists methods, in order to make her concoctions stronger and possibly more effective.In Bianca's search she is privy to suspect happenings in the death of several denizens of places near low lying areas around the dank and dampness of the Thames River. But all is conjecture until the murderer is exposed.The atmosphere is heightened by the dark look at the underside of areas of London during the medieval period, of the squalor and fetidness of certain parts, of the danger of the sweating disease.I love the introduction to where Ferris lives, 'in the bowels of a hovel off Ivy Lane.' Gritty!Lawrence has presented an exacting and exciting murder mystery that reveals how far some may be prepared to go for their loved ones.A NetGalley ARC
    • 4/5
      This is the second book in the Bianca Goddard Mystery Series. Bianca is a very intelligent young woman, recently married to her love, John. They have known each other for a long time and he accepts her eccentricities. For Bianca is an alchemist of sorts – while she doesn’t pursue the darker side of the practice she does make what she calls medicinals and salves to help people with various problems. Her father is a somewhat notorious Alchemist but she has not seen him in quite some time as they don’t agree on many a topic. Including her marriage.Bianca is working on a formula that could help with “the sweat” but she is having issues with her methodology. One of her friends directs her to another well respected alchemist so she heads off to see if he will teach her. She only gets to spend one day with him for when she goes to see him the second day he is dead! The coroner calls it a natural death but Bianca is not so sure.There are several people who had cause to be angry with this Alchemist for he owed several people money and another was jealous but were any of them to the point that they would commit murder? Despite being warned away by the authorities and being told not to pursue an investigation by her husband, Bianca can’t seem to resist trying to find answers.I did read the first book but for some reason never put a review up on the blog. It was a while ago so I can’t really remember much given how many books I read in a given year. While having read the first book certainly helped with name recognition I do believe that anyone could pick up this book and read it without a problem as a stand alone book. Given how long ago I read the first one and my laughable memory I was pretty much doing that anyway.Ms. Lawrence is brilliant at setting her scenes which at times is downright unpleasant given that the book does not take place in the world of the upper classes but rather in the poor sections of Tudor London in the waning years of the reign of Henry VIII. It was not a place full of pleasing smells and happy scenes. But those descriptions are vital to the telling of the story and the writing is so descriptive you feel like you are there – stinks and all.Where I ran into problems was when Bianca was running her experiments – it got a little too technical at times and I’m not sure it was necessary to the advancement of the story. The overall story was interesting and I enjoyed following along with her as she went from clue to clue to figure it out. She also had to deal with with her husband being very ill and none of her skills being able to help him.
    • 5/5
      Set in the time of Henry VIII.
      An alchemist discovers how to make the Elixir of Life, but before he can send the journal in which he wrote the formula to a collegue, he is killed and the journal stolen.
      Bianca Goddard tends to the sick in the slums of London and when her husband falls dangerously hill she tries desperately to find the journal, but first she has to find the murderer of the man and subsequent others.
      I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Kensington Publishing via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
    • 4/5
      The Elixir of Immortality...

      This was a solid follow-up to Lawrence's first book, The Alchemist's Daughter. She really transports you back to London in the 1600's with the old language and the descriptive setting which I enjoy. I also really like the characters especially Bianca and Meddybemps.

      I would have liked for Bianca to have practiced more alchemy in this book though and to learn more in-depth about the ingredients and methods etc. she uses for her physickes and medicinals. I felt like that was kind of glossed over so hopefully in the next book we'll see more of Bianca doing her thing.

      Also, there was a scene on a skiff where Bianca is holding a little girl because the father ran off to catch his son. There were some questions about the father's intentions and Bianca was going to look into it but nothing more was said so I think that's a loose end that needs to be tied up.

      Overall though, it was a nice historical mystery. If you enjoy alchemy and old London, it's a series worth checking out. I know I'll be keeping an eye out for the next book.

      *I received this ARC from Netgalley & Kensington Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!


    • 4/5
      This is the second book in the Bianca Goddard Mystery Series. Bianca is a very intelligent young woman, recently married to her love, John. They have known each other for a long time and he accepts her eccentricities. For Bianca is an alchemist of sorts – while she doesn’t pursue the darker side of the practice she does make what she calls medicinals and salves to help people with various problems. Her father is a somewhat notorious Alchemist but she has not seen him in quite some time as they don’t agree on many a topic. Including her marriage.Bianca is working on a formula that could help with “the sweat” but she is having issues with her methodology. One of her friends directs her to another well respected alchemist so she heads off to see if he will teach her. She only gets to spend one day with him for when she goes to see him the second day he is dead! The coroner calls it a natural death but Bianca is not so sure.There are several people who had cause to be angry with this Alchemist for he owed several people money and another was jealous but were any of them to the point that they would commit murder? Despite being warned away by the authorities and being told not to pursue an investigation by her husband, Bianca can’t seem to resist trying to find answers.I did read the first book but for some reason never put a review up on the blog. It was a while ago so I can’t really remember much given how many books I read in a given year. While having read the first book certainly helped with name recognition I do believe that anyone could pick up this book and read it without a problem as a stand alone book. Given how long ago I read the first one and my laughable memory I was pretty much doing that anyway.Ms. Lawrence is brilliant at setting her scenes which at times is downright unpleasant given that the book does not take place in the world of the upper classes but rather in the poor sections of Tudor London in the waning years of the reign of Henry VIII. It was not a place full of pleasing smells and happy scenes. But those descriptions are vital to the telling of the story and the writing is so descriptive you feel like you are there – stinks and all.Where I ran into problems was when Bianca was running her experiments – it got a little too technical at times and I’m not sure it was necessary to the advancement of the story. The overall story was interesting and I enjoyed following along with her as she went from clue to clue to figure it out. She also had to deal with with her husband being very ill and none of her skills being able to help him.
    • 3/5
      1543 London, and Bianca Goddard concocts remedies for the sick, while alchemist Ferris Stannum has found the elixir for immortality.
      But the alchemist is found dead and she needs the elixir to save her husband John from a sickness. Solving a series of murders can she also save her husband.
      For me the story dragged at the inclusion of the alchemy 'knowledge', and I didn't feel it was necessary to the story.
      Although the book is the second in the series it was not necessary to read the first.
      A NetGalley book

    Book preview

    Death of an Alchemist - Mary Lawrence

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