First Lines Friday – 19th November 2021

Happy Friday!!!! It’s been a while but I’m back with “First Lines Fridays”!!!

For those of you who are new to to this, First Lines Fridays is a weekly meme, that I first saw on Jill’s Book Blog and which is originally hosted by Wondering Words.

Rules:

Choose a book from your shelves/current read
Open the book to the first page
Copy the first line on the page, making sure you don’t give away the book title
Reveal the book.

FIRST LINES:

“Her Majesty disliked what she considered to be overheated homes. As a consequence, the many other occupants of the palace this chill December morning shivered as they moved from room to room going about their business.“

Do you recognise which book these lines come from?

This weeks book is…

Synopsis/Blurb (taken from Goodreads):

“London, June 1860: When an assassination attempt is made on Queen Victoria, and a petty thief is gruesomely murdered moments later—and only a block away—Chief Detective Inspector Charles Field quickly surmises that these crimes are connected to an even more sinister plot. Was Victoria really the assassin’s target? Are those closest to the Crown hiding something? And who is the shadowy figure witnesses describe as having lifeless, coal-black eyes?

Soon, Field’s investigation exposes a shocking conspiracy in which the publication of Charles Darwin’s controversial On the Origin of Species sets off a string of murders, arson, kidnapping, and the pursuit of a madman named the Chorister. As the investigation takes Field from the dangerous alleyways of London to the hallowed halls of Oxford, the list of possible conspirators grows, and the body count escalates. And as he edges closer to the Chorister, he uncovers dark secrets that were meant to remain forever hidden.
Tim Mason has created a rousing page-turner that both Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would relish and envy.“