Murder in Cottonopolis

A Lady Charlotte and Inspector Bolton Mystery

Set mainly in Manchester, England, in the year 1906, a city which was at that time known the world over as Cottonopolis, for its dominance in the international cotton trade, Lady Charlotte and Inspector Bolton team up to solve their second murder mystery. An explosion at a cotton mill, killing four men, begins this intriguing story which contrasts the lives of the rich and poor, those who serve and those who are served, in the Edwardian period. As Lord Leyburn and his daughter travel to Cottonopolis to make an award to a worthy alderman, all is not what it seems. As Lady Charlotte must once more confront her infatuation with Inspector Bolton, they are drawn into a set of circumstances that will see them both in danger.
In the aftermath of a general election and a new Liberal government promising reform, Cottonopolis remains a city marred by discontent, as trade unions, suffragettes and criminal gangs provide a backdrop to murder and abduction. Can Inspector Bolton and Sergeant Vine, ably assisted by the astute Lady Charlotte, bring the guilty to justice?