STEVENS, ROSEMARY — The Tainted Snuff Box

New York, Berkley Prime Crime. 2002. (ISBN: 0425184412) Pbk. Book, The second Beau Brummell mystery. " It's the autumn of 1805, and the Prince of Wales, frightened by threatening letters, has moved with his entourage to Brighton to escape the unknown menace. There, during a walk on the beach, his friend Beau Brummell discovers the body of a young lady, whose identity he's moved to discover. Before he can make much progress, Sir Simon, an obnoxious parvenu who has ingratiated himself as the prince's food taster, samples a new blend of snuff belonging to Lord Petersham at a dinner party with fatal results. Believing he was the intended victim, Prinny orders Beau to find out who put the poisoned snuff in Lord Petersham's box. With a cast of enjoyable characters, both real and fictional, and a string of red herrings, hidden motives and plot twists as intricate as a well-tied cravat, this story will delight both historical mystery and Regency fans. As New.