Sick of Shadows

M.C. Beaton worked as a Fleet Street journalist. She is the author of the Agatha Raisin novels, the Hamish Macbeth series and the Edwardian Murder Mystery series – all published by Constable & Robinson. She divides her time between Paris and the Cotswolds.

Praise for the Edwardian Murder Mystery series:

‘If you missed the first novel in the series, get it right away. Snobbery with Violence introduced the Edwardian heroine Lady Rose Summer. Her second appearance [Hasty Death] is, if anything, even wittier and more amusing than the debut.’

The Globe & Mail

‘Fans of the author’s Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth series should welcome this tale of aristocrats, house parties, servants, and murder.’

Publishers Weekly

‘A light-hearted romantic romp through Edwardian snobbery, with hints of the cataclysmic changes in store for high society.’

Kirkus Review

‘Fans of the author’s Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin mysteries . . . will welcome this new series of historical whodunits.’

Booklist

‘Combines history, romance, and intrigue resulting in a delightful romantic mystery.’

Midwest Book Review

Also by M.C. Beaton

Edwardian Murder Mystery series

Snobbery with Violence
Hasty Death
Sick of Shadows
Our Lady of Pain

Hamish Macbeth series

Death of a Valentine
Death of a Witch
Death of a Gentle Lady
Death of a Maid
Death of a Dreamer
Death of a Bore
Death of a Poison Pen
Death of a Village
Death of a Celebrity
Death of a Dustman
Death of an Addict
Death of a Scriptwriter
Death of a Dentist

Constable & Robinson Ltd
3 The Lanchesters
162 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 9ER
www.constablerobinson.com

First published in the USA by St Martin’s Press, 2005

This paperback edition published in the UK by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2010

Copyright © Marion Chesney, 2005, 2010

The right of Marion Chesney to be identified as the author of
this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication data is
available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-84901-291-1

Typeset by TW Typesetting, Plymouth, Devon
Printed and bound in the EU

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

For my sister, Matilda Chesney-Grenier,
with love and with many thanks
for all the Edwardian research books.

CHAPTER ONE

‘I am half sick of shadows,’ said The Lady of Shalott.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

The aristocracy lived in a closed world protected by a shell of wealth and title, as hard and as glittering as a Fabergé egg. The vast outside world of England where people could die of starvation barely caused a ripple in their complacency.