Penny Blood Serial Fiction

About this issue

A sprawling melodramatic serial set in January 1795, featuring commercial traveller Mr. Page who arrives at the George and Blue Boar tavern in Holborn with sensational news. At Aylesbury, Page reports, respectable baronet Sir Richard Stamford stands accused of multiple grave crimes: fraud against local tradesmen, forged bank documents, murdering his beautiful wife, and arson against his own estate. The narrative unfolds through multiple characters investigating these interconnected scandals while involving high-society figures including the Prince of Wales and various courtiers (Mrs. Fitzherbert, Lady Letitia Lade, the Earl and Countess of Desborough). The plot encompasses criminal underworld scenes at "boozing-kens," investigations by Bow Street officers, mysterious revelations about foundlings and disowned children, attempted poisonings, and romantic entanglements across multiple social strata. The work emphasizes shocking revelations, dark secrets within apparently respectable families, and moral contradictions between public reputation and private conduct.