Goodnight Sweet Prince (Lord Francis Powerscourt Murder Mysteries)

Mystery surrounds the death of Queen Victoria's grandson England, 1892. Victoria, Queen and Empress, is in the 54th year of her reign, when her grandson Prince Eddy, eldest son of the Prince of Wales, is found slaughtered in his bed at Sandringham. Terrified of more royal scandal, the Prince of Wales and his spindoctors decide to cover up the facts and the murder is disguised as death by influenza. Lord Francis Powerscourt, an Irish investigator, is privately asked to find the killer. His quest takes him on a journey through the prince's debauched and dissolute past, across Europe to the misty waterways of Venice where, amidst scandal and suicide, Powerscourt finally unravels themystery of the sweet prince's last goodnight. PRAISE FOR THE BOOK " 'In this excellent novel, Dickinson weaves a tale of blackmail and murder among the royals late in Victoria's reign& [his] knowledge of the arts, history and literature is nothing if not exhaustive, and adds enormously to the overall background& One hopes to see more of Lord Powerscourt and his friends in the near future.' - Publishers Weekly " 'This is detective fiction in the grand style; the characters and the plot soar upwards and carry us in their wake. Powerscourt's debut in this intoxicating book is the start of a gilded life in the archives of crime.' - James Naughtie "England, 1892, and Victoria, Queen and Empress, is in the 54th year of her reign. Prince Eddy, eldest son of the Prince of Wales, second in line to the throne, is found slaughtered in his bed at the royal country house at Sandringham, Norfolk. Terrified of scandal, the Prince of Wales and his spin doctors decide on a cover-up: the murder is disguised as death by influenza. Lord Francis Powerscourt, an Irish investigator, is asked secretly to find the killer, but there are many possible suspects. At the time of death there were Russians, possibly anarchists, in the vicinity. There were also Irish, possibly terrorists. The Royal Family and even the Government are not above suspicion, for Eddy would have been a singularly unsuitable monarch - as a young man he left the country for two years on a grand tour, but not it seems purely for cultural reasons. Powerscourt's quest takes him deep into Prince Eddy's debauched and dissolute past. It takes him on a journey of discovery through the crumbling palazzos and the misty waterways of Venice. And it takes him on a love affair that starts in front of Turner's Fighting Temeraire in London's National Gallery. Through a web of scandal and suicide, vice and revenge, Powerscourt at last unravels the mystery of the prince's last goodnight."--BOOK JACKET The debut of aristocrat-investigator Lord Francis Powerscourt, who takes on investigations too delicate for the police. Prince Eddy is a notorious wastrel. But when he is found in his bedroom at Sandringham with his throat cut, his father, King George V, decides that the crime must be concealed. The prince is said to have died of influenza. Lord Francis Powerscourt is secretly commissioned to find the killer, but there are so many who have reason to hate the debauched and vicious prince that the task is a hard one. It leads him across Europe, to Venice, where amidst scandal and suicide, Powerscourt finally unravels the mystery. When the dissolute Prince of Wales is threatened with yet another scandal, Lord Francis Powerscourt first tries to discover who is blackmailing--and then who murdered--the prince's equally dissolute son, Prince Eddy.