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Ashmole Foxe #5
Black As She’s Painted: An Ashmole Foxe Georgian Mystery
Samuel Melanus, a rich goldsmith turned banker goes missing, and his promiscuous wife is found naked and strangled on her own bed. It’s yet another case for Georgian Norwich’s most cunning and unconventional crime-solver, the bookseller Mr Ashmole Foxe.Foxe is approached by representatives of the city’s mercantile elite to find the missing banker before his disappearance causes a financial panic. Then, right at the start, news comes that the man’s wife has been found murdered. Thus begins a tale of intrigue, deceit and hatred, involving one of Foxe’s most loathed enemies. Aided by a motley cast of street children, a beautiful teenage burglar, and several incompetent constables, Foxe must resort to breaking the law himself to bring the murderer to justice — and work out how thousands of pounds have been stolen from one of Norwich’s leading banks, without them noticing anything was missing. With the return of Captain Brock from his Grand Tour, Foxe’s growing acceptance by the city’s elite, and wise advice from Mistress Tabby, the Cunning Woman, our hero’s life might be set fair for once — if only he wasn’t quite so willing to become involved with the low life of Norwich in his search for the truth about the missing banker and his wife, Eleanor Melanus. Was she really as black as she was painted? Or was it simply her ill fortune to be both desirable and not too bright — a woman alternately used and betrayed by the men around her? Either way, Foxe must face down a pitiless criminal enterprise to discover what really went on in the Melanus household … and in the bank next door.
258 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 26, 2018
About the author
William Savage
94 books173 followersI started to write fiction as a way of keeping my mind active in retirement. I have read and enjoyed hundreds of detective stories and mystery novels. One of my other loves is history, so it seemed natural to put the two together. Thus began two series of murder mystery books set in Norfolk.
All my books are set between 1760 and around 1800, a period of turmoil in Britain, with constant wars, revolutions in America and France and finally the titanic, 22-year struggle with Napoleon.
The Ashmole Foxe series takes place at the start of this time and is located in Norwich. Mr Foxe is a dandy, a bookseller and, unknown to most around him, the mayor’s immediate choice to deal with anything likely to upset the peace or economic security of the city.
The series featuring Dr Adam Bascom, a young gentleman physician caught up in the beginning of the Napoleonic wars, takes place in a variety of locations nearer the North Norfolk coast. Adam builds a successful medical practice, but his insatiable curiosity and knack for unravelling intrigue constantly involve him in mysteries large and small.
I have spent a good deal of my life travelling in Britain and overseas. Now I am more than content to write stories and run a blog devoted to the world of Georgian England.
All my books are set between 1760 and around 1800, a period of turmoil in Britain, with constant wars, revolutions in America and France and finally the titanic, 22-year struggle with Napoleon.
The Ashmole Foxe series takes place at the start of this time and is located in Norwich. Mr Foxe is a dandy, a bookseller and, unknown to most around him, the mayor’s immediate choice to deal with anything likely to upset the peace or economic security of the city.
The series featuring Dr Adam Bascom, a young gentleman physician caught up in the beginning of the Napoleonic wars, takes place in a variety of locations nearer the North Norfolk coast. Adam builds a successful medical practice, but his insatiable curiosity and knack for unravelling intrigue constantly involve him in mysteries large and small.
I have spent a good deal of my life travelling in Britain and overseas. Now I am more than content to write stories and run a blog devoted to the world of Georgian England.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 21, 2019
It looked like I had missed a couple of these Georgian mystery books, so getting up to date. This one seemed very familiar to me...wondering if perhaps I had read it and just not marked it off here on this site. Truthfully, all the books in the series do follow a pretty predictable pattern though the murders are different. Foxe is consistently called on by those who govern Norwich to lend a hand in solving murders. This one centers on a Midas kind of guy....gold is his business, and when his wife is murdered and he disappears the Norwich bank is at risk. Foxe to the rescue.
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February 10, 2023
I liked the catchy title of this book.
Ashmole Foxe is a well intentioned, and easy to like protagonist. The writing style was light hearted and the book was fun to read in spite of being a mystery. I enjoyed the twists and turns, and the window it opens into the Georgian period.
This was the first, and I feel like I'd like to read more of the Foxe books.
Ashmole Foxe is a well intentioned, and easy to like protagonist. The writing style was light hearted and the book was fun to read in spite of being a mystery. I enjoyed the twists and turns, and the window it opens into the Georgian period.
This was the first, and I feel like I'd like to read more of the Foxe books.
July 11, 2019
Black as She’s Painted is the fifth book in the Ashmole Foxe Mysteries series by William Savage. His other series is the Dr. Adam Bascom Mysteries and both are set in Georgian England, in and around Norwich. I will be honest and reveal I am a huge fan of William Savage and have enjoyed both of these mystery series. However, even though I come from a medical background, the Ashmole Foxe books are slight favorites, possibly because of the charismatic, unconventional and quirky protagonist.
Ashmole Foxe is a bookseller with his own shop, run largely and profitably for him by an entrepreneurial widow, Mrs. Crombie. Foxe is a dandy and an unrepentant hedonist, a lover of beautiful women in his bed, fine wine and a surfeit of good food, but despite all these social faults, he has solved several other mysteries for Norwich’s political and mercantile elite. Thus it is natural for him to be approached for assistance when a rich goldsmith turned banker Samuel Mellanus goes missing. Almost immediately there is further news: the banker’s wife, who has a promiscuous reputation, has been found naked and strangled to death in her own bed.
A group of politicians/merchants need Foxe to find Mellanus, since having a missing banker is catastrophic for a bank and its money, but they also need him to discover how thousands of pounds have been stolen from the bank, without anyone noticing they were missing...until now. Add to this conundrum is the fact that Mellanus had closed his gold smithing business for no apparent reason, letting all his workers go, and Foxe discovers that coins and jewelry were taken from Mr. and Mrs. Mellanus by their pretty maid Maria.
Can Foxe find Mellanus and the missing money? Was Eleanor Mellanus as black as she was painted, or was it simply her misfortune to be both desirable and dumb, used and betrayed by the men she welcomed to her bed?
To solve these crimes, Foxe will use his considerable investigative powers and intellect, plus the help of characters introduced in previous books: a motley crew of street children, Mistress Tabby – a so-called Cunning Woman or folk healer, who practices folk medicine and magic, and a sea captain, Captain Brock, who has just returned from his honeymoon.
As usual, the author wraps the solution to these crimes in layer upon layer of hard- won information, much of it not useful at the time of its uncovering, plus a number of tangential crimes. Also as usual, the reader learns a great deal about specific aspects of Georgian life. In each book one of these aspects is a focal point, in this case coinage and banking.
William Savage is a living compendium of Georgian life, and he creates a world into which the reader is absorbed, alternatively colorful and dangerous, and populated by characters that become real. Over the series, I have come to look forward to the reappearance of many of them, interested in how their lives are evolving, as they most certainly do.
I was not disappointed by the tangled ball of yarn created by the author to be unwound by Ashmole Foxe. The pacing of this mystery series is slow, in keeping with life in Georgian England, and is something I have learned to enjoy. It allows the reader to savor the story.
If I had one criticism, it is the length of time it takes to get to the mystery. There is always a period of introduction at the beginning of the Foxe stories but this one was long enough to be on the tedious side.
I was also disappointed that the changes in Foxe’s life in the last book – his turn to more sedate attire and true consideration of the women in his life – were not evident in this one. Can this man go on forever in his present state? Will age catch up with him? I guess I will have to wait for the next book to find out.
In any event, as always, I strongly recommend this latest Ashmole Foxe adventure to anyone who likes historical mysteries and to anyone who might!
Ashmole Foxe is a bookseller with his own shop, run largely and profitably for him by an entrepreneurial widow, Mrs. Crombie. Foxe is a dandy and an unrepentant hedonist, a lover of beautiful women in his bed, fine wine and a surfeit of good food, but despite all these social faults, he has solved several other mysteries for Norwich’s political and mercantile elite. Thus it is natural for him to be approached for assistance when a rich goldsmith turned banker Samuel Mellanus goes missing. Almost immediately there is further news: the banker’s wife, who has a promiscuous reputation, has been found naked and strangled to death in her own bed.
A group of politicians/merchants need Foxe to find Mellanus, since having a missing banker is catastrophic for a bank and its money, but they also need him to discover how thousands of pounds have been stolen from the bank, without anyone noticing they were missing...until now. Add to this conundrum is the fact that Mellanus had closed his gold smithing business for no apparent reason, letting all his workers go, and Foxe discovers that coins and jewelry were taken from Mr. and Mrs. Mellanus by their pretty maid Maria.
Can Foxe find Mellanus and the missing money? Was Eleanor Mellanus as black as she was painted, or was it simply her misfortune to be both desirable and dumb, used and betrayed by the men she welcomed to her bed?
To solve these crimes, Foxe will use his considerable investigative powers and intellect, plus the help of characters introduced in previous books: a motley crew of street children, Mistress Tabby – a so-called Cunning Woman or folk healer, who practices folk medicine and magic, and a sea captain, Captain Brock, who has just returned from his honeymoon.
As usual, the author wraps the solution to these crimes in layer upon layer of hard- won information, much of it not useful at the time of its uncovering, plus a number of tangential crimes. Also as usual, the reader learns a great deal about specific aspects of Georgian life. In each book one of these aspects is a focal point, in this case coinage and banking.
William Savage is a living compendium of Georgian life, and he creates a world into which the reader is absorbed, alternatively colorful and dangerous, and populated by characters that become real. Over the series, I have come to look forward to the reappearance of many of them, interested in how their lives are evolving, as they most certainly do.
I was not disappointed by the tangled ball of yarn created by the author to be unwound by Ashmole Foxe. The pacing of this mystery series is slow, in keeping with life in Georgian England, and is something I have learned to enjoy. It allows the reader to savor the story.
If I had one criticism, it is the length of time it takes to get to the mystery. There is always a period of introduction at the beginning of the Foxe stories but this one was long enough to be on the tedious side.
I was also disappointed that the changes in Foxe’s life in the last book – his turn to more sedate attire and true consideration of the women in his life – were not evident in this one. Can this man go on forever in his present state? Will age catch up with him? I guess I will have to wait for the next book to find out.
In any event, as always, I strongly recommend this latest Ashmole Foxe adventure to anyone who likes historical mysteries and to anyone who might!
November 15, 2018
This is the fifth Ashmole Foxe Georgian mystery but only the second I have read. William Savage is the authentic voice of Georgian Norfolk and the reader soon feels quite at home wandering the streets of Norwich with the finely dressed, eccentric, Ashmole Foxe. Although my personal fondness is for Dr Adam Bascom from Mr Savage’s other series, I am beginning to warm to the wealthy, intelligent Mr Foxe. Although a womaniser who loves the best clothes and hates bad weather, he has a need to be busy and is well respected by the community for his ability to investigate crimes and bring the culprits to justice.
The story commences with a hideous murder, shortly after the mysterious departure of the victim’s husband, goldsmith and banker, Samuel Melanus. The Mayor and important businessmen wish Foxe to discover the whereabouts of Melanus before rumour causes a run on the bank. Aided by the group of street children who consider Foxe to be their friend, he is able to shadow the activities of the criminal underworld and find the connection between the murder and the strange behaviour of the goldsmith.
As usual, this is a slow process, intermixed with Foxe’s relationships with his friends, including Mistress Tabby, the Cunning Woman, and Captain Brock, newly returned from his honeymoon in Europe. A dalliance with Maria, a personal maid to the murder victim, is followed by an interesting new friendship with the intriguing Lady Cockerham. It was difficult to leave this intriguing, slower paced world and I am tempted to read earlier adventures in the life of Ashmole Foxe.
The story commences with a hideous murder, shortly after the mysterious departure of the victim’s husband, goldsmith and banker, Samuel Melanus. The Mayor and important businessmen wish Foxe to discover the whereabouts of Melanus before rumour causes a run on the bank. Aided by the group of street children who consider Foxe to be their friend, he is able to shadow the activities of the criminal underworld and find the connection between the murder and the strange behaviour of the goldsmith.
As usual, this is a slow process, intermixed with Foxe’s relationships with his friends, including Mistress Tabby, the Cunning Woman, and Captain Brock, newly returned from his honeymoon in Europe. A dalliance with Maria, a personal maid to the murder victim, is followed by an interesting new friendship with the intriguing Lady Cockerham. It was difficult to leave this intriguing, slower paced world and I am tempted to read earlier adventures in the life of Ashmole Foxe.
October 27, 2018
What's not to love about Ashmole Foxe? Yes, he's unrepentant about his lothario life, with hedonism being pretty much a byword. But among all that is a dogged investigator, who is involved this time in discovering the murderer of a prominent businessman's wife – and how that’s involved with the disappearance of the businessman himself, who happens to be the director of a leading bank in the city. The bank director couldn't have done it, because the timeline is wrong -- so, who did?
Readers better be paying attention while they're reading Black As She Painted because if they're not they're going to be missing a fascinating study of how unhappiness and greed conspire to create possible mayhem (to say more would reveal more of the plot than is seemly). The murder is almost a side note to this plot line, as Mr. Foxe crisscrosses Norwich in search of the truth of all and sundry. Along the way we meet some new characters, including an alluring titled lady that is going to engage Mr. Foxe's attention in intriguing ways. Has our intrepid Georgian gentleman met his match? We will see.
If you're new to William Savage and the Ashmole Foxe books, don't start here. Start with the first (The Fabric of Murder) and dive in there. But if you're a fan like I am, you'll appreciate what Ashmole and Captain Brock and the street children and the Cunning Woman and Mrs. Crombie come up with in the course of the pages of Black as She's Painted.
Readers better be paying attention while they're reading Black As She Painted because if they're not they're going to be missing a fascinating study of how unhappiness and greed conspire to create possible mayhem (to say more would reveal more of the plot than is seemly). The murder is almost a side note to this plot line, as Mr. Foxe crisscrosses Norwich in search of the truth of all and sundry. Along the way we meet some new characters, including an alluring titled lady that is going to engage Mr. Foxe's attention in intriguing ways. Has our intrepid Georgian gentleman met his match? We will see.
If you're new to William Savage and the Ashmole Foxe books, don't start here. Start with the first (The Fabric of Murder) and dive in there. But if you're a fan like I am, you'll appreciate what Ashmole and Captain Brock and the street children and the Cunning Woman and Mrs. Crombie come up with in the course of the pages of Black as She's Painted.
February 10, 2023
Thanks to Lovebooktours and William Savage for my copy to review.
Blurb:
Samuel Melanus, a rich goldsmith turned banker goes missing, and his promiscuous wife is found naked and strangled on her own bed. It’s yet another case for Georgian Norwich’s most cunning and unconventional crime-solver, the bookseller Mr Ashmole Foxe.
Foxe is a wealthy, lady loving singleton who's day job is selling book, but who has a penchant for solving mysteries! In this case, he's asked to not only find missing money, but to find the missing rich goldsmith and the murderer of his wife, the very promiscuous and often adulterer.
This book was more fun and not too serious given the grim subjects of murder and theft, the author writes Ashmole is a witty and fun way, which makes for an easy and fun read.
The story itself keeps you pulled in, wondering what else will come afoot as if goes.
An entertaining and interesting read, a series worth diving into!
The wee book lady. Xx
Blurb:
Samuel Melanus, a rich goldsmith turned banker goes missing, and his promiscuous wife is found naked and strangled on her own bed. It’s yet another case for Georgian Norwich’s most cunning and unconventional crime-solver, the bookseller Mr Ashmole Foxe.
Foxe is a wealthy, lady loving singleton who's day job is selling book, but who has a penchant for solving mysteries! In this case, he's asked to not only find missing money, but to find the missing rich goldsmith and the murderer of his wife, the very promiscuous and often adulterer.
This book was more fun and not too serious given the grim subjects of murder and theft, the author writes Ashmole is a witty and fun way, which makes for an easy and fun read.
The story itself keeps you pulled in, wondering what else will come afoot as if goes.
An entertaining and interesting read, a series worth diving into!
The wee book lady. Xx
February 6, 2023
This is the 5th Ashmole Foxe Georgian mystery, set in 18th Century city of Norwich. A group of politicians and merchants need the help of Ashmole Foxe to find Samuel Melanus and the thousands of pounds that have went missing from the bank. Ashmole also has the murder of Melanus wife Eleanor to solve. Ahmole take's on Charlie as his apprentice to help him find out who murdered Eleanor and to find Samuel, will he be dead or alive? William Savage the author gives us plenty of information, but will this help us?
William Savage's other series is Dr. Adam Bascom Mysteries and is set in Georgian, England around Norwich.
William Savage's other series is Dr. Adam Bascom Mysteries and is set in Georgian, England around Norwich.
February 8, 2023
Black as she’s painted is a light hearted murder mystery set in Georgian Norwich. This is an enjoyable mystery that doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously and focuses on the popular Mr Ashmole Foxe. Foxe is a surprisingly likable character and I think this is what makes the novel so fun to read. I had never read any Ashmole Foxe mysteries before but I am looking forward to reading more in the future.
Check your triggers before reading
I received a free ebook of this novel. This review is my honest opinion and is written voluntarily.
Check your triggers before reading
I received a free ebook of this novel. This review is my honest opinion and is written voluntarily.
February 7, 2023
The character of Mr Ashmole Foxe is well thought out and thoroughly likeable. He is a bit of a character but still has good morals and is very charitable.
Overall this was an enjoyable little mystery book with all the intricacies of a well thought out, complex plot!
There were twists and turns as you uncovered all the facts and things started to slot into place.
Overall this was an enjoyable little mystery book with all the intricacies of a well thought out, complex plot!
There were twists and turns as you uncovered all the facts and things started to slot into place.
February 11, 2023
I think this is the first book that I have read in this series so I read it as a standalone and I don't feel this impacted negatively on my experience. It has however made me wnat to go on and read more.
I loved the writing and I couldn't put the book down. The setting was perfect and I loved the characters, I especially loved that Ashmole Foxe was a bookseller.
A good amount of twists that kept me guessing. I really enjoyed it.
I loved the writing and I couldn't put the book down. The setting was perfect and I loved the characters, I especially loved that Ashmole Foxe was a bookseller.
A good amount of twists that kept me guessing. I really enjoyed it.
March 1, 2019
Great Period Mystery
A Riveting historical mystery that I really enjoyed reading. Got hooked on the Unusual and enjoyable characters. I hope the series continues.
A Riveting historical mystery that I really enjoyed reading. Got hooked on the Unusual and enjoyable characters. I hope the series continues.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews