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The Infernal Riddle of Thomas Peach

a gothic mystery with an edge of magick

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The Infernal Riddle of Thomas Peach

By: Jas Treadwell
Narrated by: Fenella Woolgar
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About this listen

 A masterful novel of necromancy, secrets, and a world on the brink of the modern age...

The year is 1785, and Thomas Peach, a gentleman of modest means, moves to a small village in the West Country, bringing with him a steamer chest of clothes, some books - and, apparently, his wife, Mrs Peach, who quickly becomes a source of fascination and suspicion to the villagers. Why is she never seen abroad? Why does Mr Peach refuse entry to her bedroom to their maidservant, who is unable to detect even a whisper of breath at Mrs Peach's door, try as she might? Does Mrs Peach even exist? And if so, is she the victim of her husband's cruelty?

A liberal and free thinker, Mr Peach is a member of a society of learned men in Bristol, one of whom is guardian of a young woman believed to be possessed by a demon. Mr Peach disagrees with this opinion, but suspicion only grows when the woman in question - whose mouth and lips are stained inexplicably black - escapes from her patron and causes panic in the countryside. Soon she is living under Mr Peach's protection. But he himself is in danger; someone - or something - has followed him from his former life in London. Thomas Peach has enumerable secrets - and one of them might just prove deadly.

(P) 2021 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd©2021 James Treadwell Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Horror Small Town & Rural Scary Marriage Village

Critic reviews

An extraordinary novel . . . a tour de force
Treadwell's book is a magnificent pastiche of 18th-century fiction
Tristram Shandy meets Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in a novel that addresses dark disturbing themes with tremendous wit, charm and elegance
Part historical pastiche, part gothic horror, this is an ambitious and stylistically bold 18th-century adventure with shades of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
This novel is a virtuoso performance . . . he must be heartily congratulated both for performing an extraordinary feat of literary ventriloquism and also for reminding us what historical fiction does best: create an entirely convincing vanished world while also using that world as a lens through which to view the present day
A clever, playful mystery
Entertaining, often amusing and definitely intriguing. I particularly liked the way I became totally immersed in this 18th century world - the author's attention to tone and detail is impressive
All stars
Most relevant
I went through several stages with this. At the start I thought ‘eurgh it’s so mannered and I feel like it’s been done before’ but I was rather won over by the sheer brio of Fenella Woolgar’s performance. I stuck with it and, bar two places where it got a bit bogged down with red herrings, I enjoyed it. It’s not perfect but I’m glad to have read it.

Up and down but overall good.

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Not only an engaging and thoroughly engrossing narrative adorned with sumptuous characterisation , but narrated by an actor at the top of her game ,what a performance .
Brilliant . I will definitely revisit it again .

Thomas Peach

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Loved this - a romp of a story with twists and turns fabulous characters but most of all an extraordinary performance by the narrator. It takes a little while to get used to the style but once you’re used to it you’re off! I’m not sure I would have stuck with this in text form because of the narrative device - the audio made it work for me. Go Fenella!

Phenomenal performance by Fenella Woolgar

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