{"title":"Books by Robin Blake","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781448318261","title":"Spoiler’s Prey","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe gripping ninth instalment in the acclaimed Cragg \u0026amp; Fidelis historical mystery series from master storyteller Robin Blake.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Blake . . . belongs in the first rank of historical mystery novelists\" - \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e Starred Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEngland, 1748\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e. Civil unrest is brewing in the small hamlet of Ingolside. After tensions explode one evening and a riot sweeps through the town, a body is found on the steps of the square . . . the body of a man sent for by the Squire to implement unpopular changes in the village.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWas it an accident, or murder? Physician Dr Luke Fidelis calls in his old friend, Coroner Titus Cragg, to help uncover the truth. But with a less-than-helpful local population, and near-non-existent law enforcement, Titus quickly finds himself at the centre of a powder keg.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs violence looms once more, it's up to Cragg \u0026amp; Fidelis to solve the mystery . . . before a full-scale rebellion consumes the town.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA thrilling, meticulously detailed historical mystery, full to the brim with intrigue and deception. A perfect read for fans of C.J. Sansom, S.J. Parris, Anne Perry and C.S. Harris.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55896425955701,"sku":"9781448318261","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":57685894889845,"sku":"9781448311453","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781448318261.jpg?v=1792599124"},{"product_id":"9780727890719","title":"Hungry Death","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhen a blackened body is discovered buried beneath a hot-house, Coroner Titus Cragg uncovers a tale of scandalous secrets stretching back almost twenty years.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Blake again demonstrates why he belongs in the first rank of historical mystery novelists\" - \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e Starred Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"Coroner Cragg. You think you can find out what happened at this house? You are mistaken. You can never find out.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNovember, 1747\u003c\/i\u003e. County Coroner Titus Cragg has been called to the scene of a gruesome slaughter at a rural farmhouse: a mother and her four children brutally murdered in their own home. Were they killed by the man who should have protected them: their husband and father? And what role is played by the peculiar religious cult the family belongs to? Perhaps the mute boy who lives in the dog kennel knows the truth. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMeanwhile, Titus's friend Dr Luke Fidelis is a guest of wealthy landowner and local magistrate John Blackburne at nearby Orford Hall. When a blackened but well-preserved body is discovered deep beneath Blackburne's hot-house, Cragg and Fidelis are asked to investigate. But how can they make headway when, as they soon learn, this corpse might have been in the ground for centuries?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGradually, Titus pieces together a tale of secrets, scandal and thwarted passion - and uncovers a shocking connection between the body under the hothouse and the slaughter in the farmhouse.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56295203897717,"sku":"9780727890719","price":20.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780727890719_88e43ee3-0141-43f6-8702-877366688546.jpg?v=1786015090"},{"product_id":"9780727889201","title":"Death and the Chevalier","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAs the Young Pretender and his Jacobite army approach, Coroner Titus Cragg must solve a brutal murder ? and prevent himself from being executed for the crime.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNovember 1745. Preston, Lancashire. Rumors abound that Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, has landed in Scotland, intent on marching south to claim the English throne. Meanwhile Coroner Titus Cragg must investigate a headless body discovered in an icy pond. There is evidence to suggest a connection with the approaching rebel army ? unless someone is deliberately using the Highlanders’ invasion as a cover for murder.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs simmering tensions, conflicting loyalties and open hostilities engulf the town, Cragg finds himself arrested for murder. In order to clear his name and escape execution by firing squad, Titus must team up with his old friend, Dr Luke Fidelis, to expose the real killer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":56297009414517,"sku":"9780727889201","price":20.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57688178295157,"sku":"9781780296722","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781780296722.jpg?v=1792686086"},{"product_id":"george-stubbs-and-the-wide-creation","title":"George Stubbs And The Wide Creation","description":"\u003cp\u003eFar more than a fine horse portraitist, George Stubbs was a painter and a printmaker of the highest importance, on a par with his great contemporaries, Hogarth, Reynolds and Gainsborough. An artist-scientist who emulated Leonardo da Vinci, Stubbs tirelessly explored the natural world, and new ways of representing it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBorn the son of a Liverpool tradesman, Stubbs was self-taught and at first struggled in obscurity as a northern provincial painter. Robin Blake's book uncovers Stubbs's origins and some of the secrets of his youth: sympathy with the Jacobite rebels and Catholicism; and a previously undocumented wife and family in York.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA 'niece', Mary, became his mistress and lifelong companion, working alongside him as he dissected the carcasses of horses. In 1776 he published these investigations as \u003ci\u003eThe Anatomy of the Horse\u003c\/i\u003e, which was his breakthrough, leading to commissions from the most powerful men in Georgian Britain. By tracing the network of patronage and friendship through which George Stubbs operated, Robin Blake reveals the remarkable succession of animals, people and ideas which inspired him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStubbs emerges as a man of huge energy and complex sensibility whose artistry was informed by science, politics, literature, classical art and - above all - nature itself.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57490138431861,"sku":"9781845952396","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781845952396.jpg?v=1786442025"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-robin-blake.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}