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Title details for The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart - Available

The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne

A Mystery

by Elsa Hart
Barrie Kreinik
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available

From the author of the acclaimed Li Du novels comes Elsa Hart's new atmospheric mystery series.
London, 1703. In a time when the old approaches to science coexist with the new, one elite community attempts to understand the world by collecting its wonders. Sir Barnaby Mayne, the most formidable of these collectors, has devoted his life to filling his cabinets. While the curious-minded vie for invitations to study the rare stones, bones, books, and artifacts he has amassed, some visitors come with a darker purpose.
For Cecily Kay, it is a passion for plants that brings her to the Mayne house. The only puzzle she expects to encounter is how to locate the specimens she needs within Sir Barnaby's crowded cabinets. But when her host is stabbed to death, Cecily finds the confession of the supposed killer unconvincing. She pays attention to details—years of practice have taught her that the smallest particulars can distinguish a harmless herb from a deadly one—and in the case of Sir Barnaby's murder, there are too many inconsistencies for her to ignore.
To discover the truth, Cecily must enter the world of the collectors, a realm where intellect is distorted by obsession and greed. As her pursuit of answers brings her closer to a killer, she risks being given a final resting place amid the bones that wait, silent and still, in the cabinets of Barnaby Mayne.
A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books

"Spectacular. An extraordinary time machine of a novel, transporting us three centuries into the past, when Stuart London roiled with color and clamored with the grinding of carriage wheels...And Cecily May, the supremely winning botanist-sleuth braving hidden dangers in The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne, is a hero for the ages — her and ours." —A. J. Finn, #1 NYT bestselling author
"Hart establishes herself as a versatile talent with this exceptional standalone set in 1703 London...She is bound to become a household name for readers who love clever and fair whodunits." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    August 4, 2020

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781250751898
      • File size: 284909 KB
      • Duration: 09:53:33

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Barrie Kreinik's skill with accents and dialects comes in handy in her narration of this historical mystery, which takes place in London at the turn of the eighteenth century. Hart provides a window onto a time when wealthy men wore wigs and pursued a passion for collecting oddities from across the globe. Into this very traditional world appear two very nontraditional women, Cecily Kay, an unhappily married woman with a special interest in botany, and her childhood friend, Meacan Barlow, an illustrator. The two team up to solve the murder of Sir Barnaby Mayne. While Kreinik cleverly differentiates the many male and female characters through accents and tone, listeners will have to follow closely to keep track of their comings and goings. E.Q. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 27, 2020
      Hart (City of Ink and two other mysteries featuring 18th-century Chinese librarian Li Du) establishes herself as a versatile talent with this exceptional standalone set in 1703 London. Botanist Cecily Kay has left her diplomat husband behind in Smyrna to spend time in the home of Sir Barnaby Mayne, a legendary collector, who believes his holdings “contain no less than the future course of all knowledge toward the secrets God left for man to discover.” Kay hopes to use Mayne’s collection of plants to help her classify the flora she collected in Smyrna. She’s delighted to find that Mayne’s other guests include a childhood friend, Meacan Barlow, an artist who’s been retained to illustrate a new catalogue of the nobleman’s possessions. Both women’s plans are disrupted when Mayne is found stabbed to death in his study, with the bloody knife in the hands of another member of the household, who confesses to the murder before fleeing. The astute Kay doubts the confession’s truthfulness, but her pursuit of answers puts her in danger. The author has a gift for vivid similes (randomly displayed objects are “like guests at a poorly planned party who cannot find a common topic of conversation”). Hart is bound to become a household name for readers who love clever and fair whodunits. Agent: Stephanie Cabot, Gernert Co.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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