
` Intricate & crisp, witty & solemn: a book with special & dangerous properties, ` Hilary Mantel ` Baroque, Byzantine & beautiful
- not to mention bold` M.R. Carey Rotherweird is twisted, arcane murder-mystery with shades of Deborah Harkness, Hope Mirrlees, Ben Aaronovitch, Mervyn Peake & Edward Gorey at their disturbing best. The town of Rotherweird stands alone
- there are no guidebooks, despite the fascinating & diverse architectural styles cramming the narrow streets, the avant garde science & offbeat customs. Cast adrift from the rest of England by Elizabeth I, Rotherweird`s independence is subject to one disturbing condition: nobody, but nobody, studies the town or its history. For beneath the enchanting surface lurks a secret so dark that it must never be rediscovered, still less reused. But secrets have a way of leaking out. Two inquisitive outsiders have arrived: Jonah Oblong, to teach modern history at Rotherweird School (nothing local & nothing before 1800), & the sinister billionaire Sir Veronal Slickstone, who has somehow got permission to renovate the town`s long-derelict Manor House. Slickstone & Oblong, though driven by conflicting motives, both strive to connect past & present, until they & their allies are drawn into a race against time
- & each other. The consequences will be lethal & apocalyptic. Welcome to Rotherweird!