Diary of Bedlam

Update 10/6/11: DIARY OF BEDLAM is currently being revised.

I am seeking representation for my historical mystery, Diary of Bedlam, a standalone novel set in 1678 London with series potential:

Lady Isabel Wilde, a former English spy and occasional favorite in King Charles II's bedchamber, has a secret: she makes her living disguised as Mistress Ruby, a fortuneteller who caters to London's elite. Charlatans, rogues, villains, and swindlers lurk in every corner of the city, and Isabel concedes she is one of them. But hard experience has taught her that women have few enough advantages in this world, and her conscience does not often bother her.

Everything changes when Sir Edmund Godfrey, a popular London magistrate, seeks Mistress Ruby's counsel and reveals his accidental involvement in a covert plot to murder the King. Shortly after his visit, her diary, the sole record of her illicit activities as a soothsayer, is stolen, and Isabel must locate it before anyone connects her to Mistress Ruby. When Sir Edmund's corpse is discovered a few days later, Isabel suspects whoever committed the murder also has her diary.

Unwilling to trust the investigation to a royal court infamous for its schemes and intrigues, she begins her own inquiry and learns that Sir Edmund's murder is only a small part of a conspiracy that leads all the way to the throne. A series of increasingly violent threats against her and her loved ones convince Isabel that her business is not the only thing at stake and that she must find Sir Edmund Godfrey's killer before she becomes the next victim.

I am a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and the Private Eye Writers of America.