{"product_id":"9781476712864","title":"The Poisoned Island : A Novel","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Poisoned Island\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Lloyd Shepherd\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA brilliant young police officer discovers a series of bizarre deaths are connected to the cargo of a research vessel bound for Kew Gardens in this fantasy-tinged historical thriller set in early nineteenth-century London.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTahiti 1769. English sailors arrive on the shores of the Polynesian paradise— a place of staggering beauty where magic and ancient myths still hold sway. But they soon devastate the island with disease, war, and death, planting deadly seeds that will be carried back to England forty years later.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLondon 1812. On a gray June morning, the \u003ci\u003eSolander\u003c\/i\u003e docks, her hold containing hundreds of exotic plants from Tahiti for the King’s Gardens at Kew. The apparently successful expedition soon takes a horrifying— and inexplicable—turn: The crew of the \u003ci\u003eSolander\u003c\/i\u003e starts dying one by one. Thames River Police Chief Charles Horton can find no signs of murder or suicide to explain the deaths, and the ship’s surviving crew seems intent on hampering his investigation. When one of the plants begins to show frightening changes, it is up to Charles Horton to determine how it might be stopped.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e“A spirited evocation of an era when roving botanists could also be blithe sexual predators, and 'savages' could be both admired and exploited... Georgian London is vividly brought to life...\u003cb\u003e A gutsy, involving yarn\u003c\/b\u003e.”\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cb\u003eMemorable\u003c\/b\u003e prose, tight plotting, and \u003cb\u003ecomplex\u003c\/b\u003e characters.\"\u003cbr\u003e“Shepherd adroitly blurs fact and fiction with a hint of the fantastic, creating \u003cb\u003ehis own superior blend of historical crime fiction.\u003c\/b\u003e”\u003cbr\u003e“I loved it. \u003cb\u003eVery stylish, very ingenious, and very well written\u003c\/b\u003e.”\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Pulls you in… Clever… Shepherd \u003cb\u003edelivers the goods\u003c\/b\u003e.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781476712864\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Washington Square Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40591964242126,"sku":"9781476712864","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/O_42545800-5e41-4055-b452-ae24661a5c6b.jpg?v=1637760052","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781476712864","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}