Sophia is a naive heiress whose new husband isn't all he seems. Betsy-Anne is a prostitute and kept-woman pining for her former lover, son of her madam. Fortunate is an african slave, trying to come to terms with life in London. The lives of these three characters are intertwined together in a tale of resurrection, gambling, prostitution and vice set in the 18th century. The link between all three is a fortune hunter whose background in vice has led to a disregard for others and a need for the high life. Work as a card shark, then a grave robber, finally he abandons his wife as fate catches up with him.

The use of the bon mot of the times is a real clever characteristic of this book, although I am glad I didn't get the e-reader version as at first I was constantly turning to the glossary. However this is a really enjoyable tale, expertly researched and with an excellent plot. I much preferred it to McCann's earlier works as it feels more alive and 'of its time'. The descriptions of life in all strata of society is detailed and hypocrisy and snobbery are never far away. ( )

http://tamaranth.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/201732-ace-king-knave-maria-mccann.html ( )

Maria McCann's third novel plunges us into the heart of roistering 18th-century London, where fortunes can be made or lost in a night, cardsharps haunt the gaming tables and no one is exactly what they seem. The story follows two very different women - the newly-married, well-bred Sophia and the worldly Betsy-Ann Blore - both of whom find that their lives fall far short of what they'd dreamed, and both of whom discover that the men in their lives are hiding more secrets than they've bargained for. Written with a splendid feel for language - and employing a dazzling range of period cant - this is an absorbing book which offers a glimpse beneath the superficial glamour of London high life, at the dark and seedy underbelly of 18th-century society.

For a longer review, please see my blog:
http://theidlewoman.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/ace-king-knave-maria-mccann.html ( )