The Wax Artist by Sarah L. King
Spring, 1803. An uneasy peace between Britain and France endures - for now. In Edinburgh, as speculation grows about the resumption of war, the city’s parlours and taverns find distraction in the intriguing new faces appearing in the affluent New Town. On Hill Street, the Andrews family arrives from London, reeling from a recent scandal but determined to make a fresh start. And on Thistle Street, Marie Tussaud’s waxwork exhibition opens, offering vivid glimpses of French royalty and revolutionaries alike.
Glimpses which French émigré and psychic Ailsa Rose does not welcome.
However, unwanted reminders of bloodshed and strife are the least of Ailsa’s worries. When her spiritual abilities cause her to cross paths with the Andrews family, she foresees the death of the eldest daughter, Clara. Disturbed by the violence of her vision, Ailsa feels compelled to investigate and to thwart Clara’s dreadful fate.
But as Ailsa digs deeper into the young woman’s secrets, she also finds herself unearthing the ghosts of her own past, including those she thought she’d left behind in revolutionary France…
About the author
Sarah L King lives in West Lothian, Scotland, with her husband and children. Born in Nottingham and raised in Lancashire, her books include the historical fiction novels, The Gisburn Witch (2015), A Woman Named Sellers (2016) and The Pendle Witch Girl (2018), all set during the Lancashire witch trials in the seventeenth century. She is also the author of two contemporary mystery novels, Ethersay (2017) and The House at Kirtlebeck End (2019). The Wax Artist is her sixth novel and the first book in the Ailsa Rose Mysteries series.
When she’s not writing, Sarah loves long country walks, romantic ruins, Thai food and spending time with her family.
Review
‘The Wax Artist’ is the start of a brand new Edinburgh mystery series set in the early 1800s. One that focuses on Miss Ailsa Rose a young tavern worker who also has special physic gifts. I found this to be an engaging tale with a strong independently spirited woman at its centre and one I was drawn to.
When a certain Madame Tussaud brings her exhibition of wax figures to Edinburgh it is the talk of the town. Miss Rose a young woman who grew up in Paris, nows works as in a tavern but also has special gifts - physic in nature. She is asked to perform a tea reading for a family and experiences a vision of one of the young ladies, Clara, and her untimely death.
I enjoyed Ailsa Rose as a character as she is certainly unusual for the period that she lives in. I enjoyed her compassion and empathy, she was really well-drawn and I look forward to learning more about her life. Edinburgh, especially the Old Town, is a perfect setting for a tale of the unnatural with it's Luckenbooth and windy closes and the author managed to convey this perfectly.
Looking forward to more from this series!
