Dangerous (A Lord Byron Mystery) by Essie Fox

 

Dangerous (A Lord Byron Mystery) by Essie Fox.

Published 24th April 2025 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

Fiction can be fatal…

Living in exile in Venice, the disgraced Lord Byron revels in the freedoms of the city. But when he is associated with the deaths of local women, found with wounds to their throats, and then a novel called The Vampyre is published under his name, rumours begin to spread that Byron may be the murderer…

As events escalate and tensions rise – and his own life is endangered, as well as those he holds most dear – Byron is forced to play detective, to discover who is really behind these heinous crimes. Meanwhile, the scandals of his own infamous past come back to haunt him…

Rich in gothic atmosphere and drawing on real events and characters from Byron's life, Dangerous is a riveting, dazzling historical thriller, as decadent, dark and seductive as the poet himself…

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Exiled from London society, Lord Byron has relocated to Venice, where he continues to indulge his passions and engage in every vice that has made him infamous. But his freedoms are reined in when he becomes a person of interest in the deaths of local women associated with him - each body discovered with mysterious wounds to the neck.

With the recent publication of a novel called The Vampyre, which has erroneously been issued under his name, gossip is rife about Byron's guilt. If he wants to prove his innocence, he must turn detective to establish who means him, and his loved ones, harm...

Mad, bad, and dangerous Lord Byron is a seductive character to conjure with, and this glorious retelling by Essie Fox makes the most of the mystique and romance associated with his disreputable antics. Beginning with an eerie opening of Byron's tomb, during which secret manuscripts are discovered, Fox proceeds to blend fact and fiction to create a very clever Gothic murder mystery that embroiders what we know of the man with supernatural whispers.

Quite brilliantly, Fox takes the very real furore about the publication of The Vampyre under his name (a book which was actually penned by his former associate, Dr John Polidori), and speculates which might have happened had Byron been connected to suspiciously vampiric murders during his residence in Venice. Given his tendency to make his own writings semi-autobiographical, a story about vampires from his pen provides rich fodder for gossip, insinuation, and the destruction of the last vestiges of his reputation - not to mention the risk of physical harm for himself and his household.

Of course, the Byron of this tale is not the guilty party, or a vampire (or is he?), and he becomes a delightfully quirky detective, straying off the path in his debauched way as he ferrets out the truth behind the murders. In the telling, Fox litters his progress with obstacles put in his way by the manipulations of those out for revenge, as well of those of his own making - mostly when it comes to the psychological effects the ghosts that haunt him. 

Venice is a fabulous backdrop for the story, standing as a character in its own right, as the action oozes unsettlingly through its moody, mysterious back alleys, palazzos, and sinuous waterways. It is so atmospheric that you can feel menace round every corner, and find yourself doubting the intentions of the entire vivid cast - with good cause. The twists and turns are drop dead gorgeous, inextricably tied to luscious themes of obsession and dark deeds (inevitable given Byron's lifestyle and innumerable affairs). There are lovely links to the fateful summer Byron spent at Lake Geneva with the Shelleys, Claire Clairmont, and Polidari too. I even applaud Fox's best attempts to show different sides to Byron, particularly around his daughters, and his menagerie, which is far from easy given the fact that his propensity for degeneracy still lives so large in our minds some two hundred years after his death.

Fox's talent for immersing you up to the gills in all things Gothic is a thing of dark beauty, and I enjoyed this immensely. I am intrigued that this is sub-titled 'A Lord Byron Mystery' - will there be more? I sincerely hope so!

Dangerous is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats. You can support indie publishing by buying direct from Orenda Books HERE.

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Essie Fox was born and raised in rural Herefordshire, which inspires much of her writing. After studying English Literature at Sheffield University, she moved to London where she worked for the Telegraph Sunday Magazine, then the book publishers George Allen & Unwin – before becoming self-employed in the world of art and design. 

 Always an avid reader, Essie now spends her time writing historical gothic novels. Her debut, The Somnambulist, was shortlisted for the National Book Awards, and featured on Channel 4's TV Book Club. The Last Days of Leda Grey, set in the early years of silent film, was selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month. Her novel, The Fascination is based in Victorian country fairgrounds, the glamour of the London theatres, and an Oxford Street museum full of morbid curiosities.

Essie is also the creator of the popular blog: The Virtual Victorian She has lectured on this era at the V&A, and the National Gallery in London.