Goblin Market. Larh Thomas Mysteries, #4

London, 2024Larh Thomas is asked to act as historical consultant on a play about the poet Christina Rossetti, the sister of Gabriel Dante Rossetti, one of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of Victorian painters. The play was written ten years earlier by the estranged daughter of a wealthy theatre angel who lives on Richmond Hill, who gets a grant to put on a production for the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond.
The play causes controversy from the start, and when the original leading lady is attacked, the daughter, Clara Newton, abandons her struggling indie band on the south coast and comes to Richmond to take up the lead role. Because she is so good, the play is taken up by the city's Goth community, and gains enormous publicity, although at a cost to the lead actor, who descends into a complicated psychotic state.
This is not helped by horrendous physical attacks which take place on those close to her, including Larh, who has been helping Clara. After Larh returns from hospital, there is a recovery of sorts and the play transfers to Hastings during May week. At this point it is clear that some jealous ex-lover is targeting Clara's other exes with murderous intent. Larh works with the police to try and unravel this mystery, before they succeed in hurting Clara as well.