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A Bitter Remedy

The Oxford Mysteries, Book 1

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A Bitter Remedy

By: Alis Hawkins
Narrated by: Ffion Aynsley, Iestyn Arwel
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About this listen

Jesus College, Oxford, 1881. An undergraduate is found dead at his lodgings and the medical examination reveals some shocking findings. When the young man’s guardian blames the college for his death and threatens a scandal, Basil Rice, a Jesus College fellow with a secret to hide, is forced to act and finds himself drawn into Sidney Parker’s sad life.

The mystery soon attracts the attention of Rhiannon ‘Non’ Vaughan, a young Welsh polymath and one of the young women newly admitted to university lectures. But when neither the college principal nor the powerful ladies behind Oxford’s new female halls will allow her to become involved, Non’s fierce intelligence and determination to prove herself drive her on.

Both misfits at the university, Non and Basil form an unlikely partnership, and it soon falls to them to investigate the mysterious circumstances of Parker’s death. But between corporate malfeasance and snake-oil salesmen, they soon find the dreaming spires of Oxford are not quite what they seem …

©2023 Alis Hawkins (P)2024 Bolinda Publishing Crime Thrillers Historical Literature & Fiction Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction

Critic reviews

'‘An excellent historical mystery dripping with atmosphere that exposes the chauvinism, misogyny and bigotry of late Victorian England.' (The Times)
'Her inventiveness is prodigal.' (Financial Times)
'Fearlessly tackles taboo attitudes of the era, taking aim at misogyny, homophobia, and sexual politics. An excellent addition to the historical mystery canon. Marvellous!' (Vaseem Khan, author of the Baby Ganesh Detective Agency series)
'A Bitter Remedy is a perfect tonic for our times.' (S.G. MacLean, author of The Seeker)
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A wonderful crime fiction set in the backdrop of an era when women were just quiet gentle souls that add no value but home making. I enjoyed the wonderful research and accurate asides woven into the story. Thanks Alis, Fyon and all the people involved in an amazing drama.

I loved it-spitting tacks at all the misogyny!

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Good solid historical crime. Thoroughly enjoyable. Victorian men proving themselves as big arses as I always assume.

Good characters, interesting plot

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On first listening to this book I was a little bit nervous as it seemed a little disjointed - and not based in Wales! Hang on in there, get to know the characters, and it is just as enthralling.
My preference for audiobooks started through listening with my husband, my reasoning that I can do other things while listening has just been blown out of the window because just in the the same way you cannot put a book down, I didn’t get any of that housework done

Didn’t think I’d get drawn in

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First time listening to stories by this author and I love her style, themes, spinning out of a good mystery. Good to remember that the privileges I enjoy as a woman today were not always a given - how hard some people had to fight for acceptance and what they wanted.

Excellent, excellent

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Having already enjoyed the Teifi Valley Coroner series I had high expectations of this new series, and this book didn't disappoint. With historical fiction it can be tricky for writers to not get too bogged down in history as to make it feel like a lecture, or too focused on the story and make it sensationalism rather than enjoyable. This manages the balance right. You end up considering social injustices of the time whilst also investing in the characters and the drama of the plot.

The perfect mix of history and story

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