Friday 13 November 2015

Online Book Launch - A Corpse in Cipher

Save the date, on the 15 December, 2015 from 6pm-8pm UK time (10am-noon West Coast US time) is set to be the first online book release for A Corpse in Cipher, by Elizabeth Drake. This is the first novel in a new series of Tudor murder mysteries set in Henry VIII's early reign. It features Elspet Stafford, a young woman of marriageable age whose mind is every bit as sharp as her elderly friend and accomplice in detection, the Dowager Duchess Lettice. The only problem, aside from the odd random corpse showing up on their doorstep, is that everyone keeps trying to marry off Elspet.

Here is the back cover blurb for book one to whet the appetite:

The year is 1513 and Elspet Stafford is a young woman with a promising future. She is engaged to a knight, she has the lineage of a royal family and can't wait to start her new life. She's never met her betrothed, but he sends her regular letters; ciphers and puzzles for her to decode to keep her distracted from her mother's overbearing nature. When news of his death reaches her, she finds it hard to believe, especially as the messenger also brings a letter from the fallen man himself for her to decode.

She takes the letter with her when her mother sends her to a relation's manor where she is to be trained for court. Before she can decode her letter, she stumbles across the body of a murdered man in the manor's courtyard; a murder which the Lord of Ufford Manor is determined to cover up.

Striking an unlikely alliance with the Lord's mother, Dowager Duchess Lettice, Elspet must decode the letter and discover what truly happened to the unfortunate man. But some mysteries are safer left alone and soon both women find themselves deep in intrigue, plots and of course, murder.

About the author:

Elizabeth Drake has been studying Medieval and Tudor England for over 15 years and has an MA in Medieval Archaeology from the University of York, England. She has been writing for much longer but the Elspet Stafford Mysteries began her writing career in the genre.

When not writing or researching, Elizabeth can be found reading or gardening. She balances time between her two homes in Essex, UK and California.