Above the Bay of Angels: A Novel

&;&;Sweeping and intimate, warm and gripping. I loved it!&; &;Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Chief Inspector Gamache novelsA single twist of fate puts a servant girl to work in Queen Victoria&;s royal kitchen, setting off a suspenseful, historical mystery by the New York Times bestselling author of The Tuscan Child and The Victory Garden.Isabella Waverly only means to comfort the woman felled on a London street. In her final dying moments, she thrusts a letter into Bella&;s hand. It&;s an offer of employment in the kitchens of Buckingham Palace, and everything the budding young chef desperately wants: an escape from the constrictions of her life as a lowly servant. In the stranger&;s stead, Bella can spread her wings.Arriving as Helen Barton from Yorkshire, she pursues her passion for creating culinary delights, served to the delighted Queen Victoria herself. Best of all, she&;s been chosen to accompany the queen to Nice. What fortune! Until the threat of blackmail shadows Bella to the Riviera, and a member of the queen&;s retinue falls ill and dies.Having prepared the royal guest&;s last meal, Bella is suspected of the poisonous crime. An investigation is sure to follow. Her charade will be over. And her new life will come crashing down&;if it doesn&;t send her to the gallows.