to save people from their iniquities.
Some useful measures were actually undertaken. A Central Board of Health was first established, based in London, and other cities throughout Britain formed their own boards of health that reported to the central branch. In this way, they were able to disseminate information to the public in a more organized manner through the Cholera Gazette. Broadsides were also posted, advising people of things like what foods to eat, how to clean themselves and their homes, and to be mindful of the weather and the suitability of their clothing for it. The buildings in infected areas were whitewashed and cleaned. However, these efforts could only do so much when, in their ignorance, they failed to address the true cause of the disease: the open cesspools contaminating the sources of their drinking water. Rarely were quarantine measures recommended because cholera didn’t seem to spread by contagion but more often by indirect personal contact.
It wasn’t until 1854, when Dr. John Snow was able to trace the source of a single cholera outbreak in London to a specific water pump, and then a decades-long fight for germ theory to overtake that of the miasma theory, that the real cause of cholera was pinpointed and accepted. Once significant sanitation improvements were made and clean water supplies were secured, then cholera was largely eradicated from many parts of the world. Though today there are still areas of the globe without these two crucial elements that struggle with the disease.
The mindset and general knowledge of the populace was unsettled at this time, and there was great fear among some citizens that doctors were allowing or causing people to die of the cholera in order to use their bodies for dissection in the anatomy schools. A fear that would continue to grow into the summer of 1832 and result in multiple cholera riots.
The plot of A Wicked Conceit was greatly inspired by the book Murder by the Book by Claire Harman, and the murder of Lord William Russell in May 1840. The man executed for Lord William’s murder was his valet, François Courvoisier, who claimed he’d been inspired by one of the plays staged from the book Jack Sheppard, which were a smashing success in 1840 London. Novels about criminals were all the rage in this era, forming a new genre of “Newgate novels,” as they were called, after the infamous prison. And none more so than Jack Sheppard, the tale of the eighteenth-century unabashed thief, who escaped jail numerous times, written by William Harrison Ainsworth. The book had already inspired a minor crime wave across London, drawing heavy criticism, but the gruesome murder of a nobleman catapulted its infamy to an entirely new level.
I also borrowed the title of the immensely popular flash song from the Adelphi’s production of Jack Sheppard. The words for “Nix My Dolly, Pals, Fake Away” were taken from Ainsworth’s earlier novel Rookwood and were set to music by G. Herbert Rodwell to rousing success. Though written in thieves’ cant, it proved to be a favorite among all classes and was one of the most popular songs of the decade, even if the upper classes little understood the words they were singing. The tune was played in music boxes, used as sheet music for children learning to play the violin, and even arranged as a chime for the bells of the cathedral in Edinburgh. “Nix My Dolly” was everywhere.
In 1832, UK theaters did not have to pay authors for the use of the material in their books. They were not yet protected by copyright law. So authors had no choice but to accept it. Sometimes a theater manager would offer a one-off payment to the author, more out of guilt than any other reason, but they were not required to do so.
In this time period, the Theatre Royal in Edinburgh was owned by actor-turned-manager William Henry Murray and his sister, actress Harriet Siddons. Harriet was, in fact, styled “Our Mrs. Siddons” by the people of Edinburgh to differentiate her from her more famous mother-in-law, actress Sarah Siddons. The Wolf of Badenoch was also a real fourteenth-century figure, considered by some to be the most notorious and vile man in Scottish history.
I discovered the African American actor Ira Aldridge while learning about his portrait by James Northcote hanging in the Manchester Art Gallery. A fascinating figure in his own right, he left a lasting legacy in theater and through the accomplishments of his children. He is currently the only actor of African American descent honored with a plaque at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK. He toured widely in the UK at this time period, particularly in his role as Shakespeare’s Othello.
Earl Grey and the Whigs genuinely did plot to ask the king to create a large enough number of new Whig peers in order to pass the third attempt at the Reform Act through the House of Lords, believing this was their only alternative. However, King William IV initially balked at this measure, leading Lord Grey to resign as prime minister. The king then invited the Tory Duke of Wellington to form a new government. This resulted in the “Days of May,” a period of revolt and great unrest, which many feared would culminate in outright revolution. Uneasy lies the state of Britain in these days following the birth of Kiera and Gage’s child.
Acknowledgments
As always, I’m so grateful to everyone involved with the creation of this book and those who helped me in various ways to complete it. This was the first book I finished writing during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as such, the experience was both somewhat unique and also fraught with more difficulties. So I want to offer an extra helping of thanks to all who are named below.
My amazing team at Berkley Prime Crime, including, but not limited to, my fabulous editor Michelle Vega, Jenn Snyder, Brittanie Black, Jessica Mangicaro, Stacy Edwards, and Amy J. Schneider, as well as the artists and designers who always create such stunning covers.
My incomparable agent, Kevan Lyon, and her team.
My husband—I don’t know what I would do without his love and encouragement, and my daughters for filling me up and making me want to be the best I can be.
My eldest daughter’s teachers, as well as educational staff everywhere. Having to assist her through the last nine weeks of kindergarten by remote learning was certainly eye-opening and definitely made me even more grateful for everything teachers do every day, and how much of themselves they pour into their students.
My friends and beta readers, Jackie Musser and Stacie Roth Miller, whose guidance never steers me wrong.
My extraordinary circle of friends and family, whose care and support always means so much.
And God, who never leaves or forsakes me, and from whom all blessings flow.
About the Author
Anna Lee Huber is the Daphne Award-winning author of the national bestselling Lady Darby Mysteries and the Verity Kent Mysteries. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she majored in music and minored in psychology. She currently resides with her family and is hard at work on her next novel.
What’s next on
your reading list?
Discover your next
great read!
Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.
Sign up now.