The Bells of Fortune

Leonora Nattrass

Nov 2026 · Serpent's Tail

Ebook

250

Pages

Eligible

Switch to the audiobook

About this ebook

'An entertaining read' - SUNDAY TIMES

'A treat for anyone who hankers for a light-hearted, modern-day Trollope' - S.G. MACLEAN

'Historical fiction at its finest' - JANICE HALLETT

The hunt for an ancient king could prove deadly...

Leicestershire, 1774. Following a minor royal scandal, Susan Bell's father has lost his post as Dean of Westminster, and the two find themselves exiled to the family's country seat, Fortune Hall. Susan fills her days attempting to prevent her fiancé Lindley from being married off to a richer bride, while her father takes on the tutorship of Francis North, son of the Prime Minister.

When a visiting surveyor mysteriously disappears near a fast-flowing river, the man is presumed to have drowned. Susan alone is not convinced by this explanation, or by that of eccentric visiting librarian Mr Quintrel, who declares the surveyor likely lost in the tunnels that form the tomb of the mythical King Lear. But when the young Francis North also disappears, Susan knows that her family's reputation is at stake and she must investigate. What did the surveyor stumble upon that someone would possibly kill to hide? And what darker secrets are waiting to be revealed?

'Historical fiction at its finest' - JANICE HALLETT

'A triumph of wit and intelligence' - ROBERT J. LLOYD

'An elegantly written, and genuinely witty, Georgian mystery' - DOUGLAS SKELTON

'An entertaining read' - SUNDAY TIMES 'A treat for anyone who hankers for a light-hearted, modern-day Trollope' - S.G. MACLEAN 'Historical fiction at its finest' - JANICE HALLETT The hunt for an ancient king could prove deadly... Leicestershire, 1774. Following a minor royal scandal, Susan Bell'...

Discover more

About the author

Leonora Nattrass studied eighteenth-century literature and politics, and spent ten years lecturing in English and publishing works on William Cobbett. She lives in Cornwall, in a seventeenth-century house with seventeenth-century draughts, and spins the fleeces of her Ryeland sheep into yarn. She is the author of the Laurence Jago series, and has been shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger Award twice and longlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Award. Her second novel, Blue Water, was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month and Times bestseller.

Leonora Nattrass studied eighteenth-century literature and politics, and spent ten years lecturing in English and publishing works on William Cobbett. She lives in Cornwall, in a seventeenth-century house with seventeenth-century draughts, and spins the fleeces of her Ryeland sheep into yarn. She...

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets

Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.

Laptops and computers

You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.

eReaders and other devices

To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.

Flag as inappropriate