The Pigeon Pie Mystery

June 4, 2012
Near the outset of Stuart’s zany first mystery, a late Victorian historical, Princess Alexandrina of Prindur (aka Mink), the daughter of an Indian maharajah, faces eviction from her father’s London house after her debt-ridden parent’s death. Mink staves off the creditors for a year until getting a reprieve from the queen, who offers her a “grace-and-favour residence” on the grounds of Hampton Court Palace. Over the reservations of her maid, Pooki, who believes the palace to be haunted, Mink accepts, only to find herself in the midst of a murder inquiry in which she has a personal investment. During a picnic at the palace’s Pond Gardens, a guest expires after eating an arsenic-laced pigeon pie that Pooki prepared. Fans of Stuart’s novel The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise will find the same wit on display. A noblewoman, for example, praises H.G. Wells’s Martians for sparing Hampton Court “as any right-thinking monsters would.” Agent: Gráinne Fox, Fletcher & Company.

December 24, 2012
Princess Alexandrina, known as Mink, is the daughter of an Indian Maharaja but was born and raised in Victorian England. When her father dies suddenly amid scandal, she discovers she's penniless. But then Queen Victoria allows her to live in one of the residences at Hampton Court Palace. Mink and her Indian maid, Pooki, start to settle in and make friends. But when the obnoxious General-Major Bagshot dies of arsenic poisoning after eating one of Pooki's pigeon pies at a picnic, Pooki is suspected of murder and Mink must find the true criminal before her loyal maid is hanged. Hannah Curtis narrates with a proper English accent and in a tone befitting the subject matter. She also creates unique voices for the many characters. Among the highlights are the voice of the blustery and lecherous Bagshot, the lower-class English accents of various tradesmen and servants, the voice of the outraged head housekeeper, and that of the visiting paleontologist from America. This is an engaging and downright fun listen for fans of the cozy. A Doubleday hardcover.