Excerpt from the novel
So Much for Buckingham
by
Anne R. Allen
So Much for Buckingham
by
Anne R. Allen
There were a dozen more one-star reviews on my Amazon pages. Especially Good Manners for Bad Times.
Some accused me of criminal behavior and others of sexual deviance. Lots threatened me with rape.
I felt a burning in my gut as I skimmed the headers. Part of me wanted to click away and pretend it wasn't happening, but I knew I had to face the full catastrophe.
The most recent "review" had come in only a minute before.
"Jezbellzbooks" said "Dr. Manners is a BBA. Sumbudy shud teach HER sum manners. Maybe with a **** up her ***. Or get a gun. Just shoot that old bat. Put her out of our misery."
A gun. They wanted to kill me. Apparently the crime of responding to a ridiculous "review" of my imagined taste in architecture was a capital offense to these people.
I refreshed the page.
"Owain Glendower" came up: "These bloody reviewers have lost the plot. As William Shakespeare said, 'Hell is empty and all the devils are here'. Looks like the work of You-Know-Who-You-Are-You-Sodding-Prats. The filth on Book Reviews dot Com is even worse. Utterly depraved. What's wrong with you people? Henry Tudor was one of Britain's greatest kings."
Former socialite Camilla Randall, a.k.a. "Dr. Manners" is a magnet for murder, mayhem, and Mr. Wrong. In this hilarious episode she makes the mistake of responding to an Amazon review of one of her etiquette guides and sets off a chain of events that leads to arson, attempted rape and murder.
Her best friend Plantagenet Smith is accused of doing the deed and nobody but her shady former boyfriend Peter Sherwood—fresh from a Tasmanian prison—can save him.
Camilla and Plant are
caught between rival factions of historical reenactors who are fiercely
pro or anti-Richard III. Set against the backdrop of Richard's
reinternment in Leicester in 2015, the book is an exploration of the
power of false rumors as well as a satire of the Internet communities
whose "flame wars" sometimes spill into real life.
Anne
R. Allen is a mystery novelist and award-winning blogger. Her blog has been
named to Writer's Digest's Best 101 Websites for Writers. She has also written
a guidebook for authors with literary superstar Catherine Ryan Hyde HOW TO BE A
WRITER IN THE E-AGE: A SELF-HELP GUIDE
She's
the author of the five CAMILLA RANDALL MYSTERIES as well as the comedies FOOD
OF LOVE, THE LADY OF THE LAKEWOOD DINER, and THE GATSBY GAME and the collection
WHY GRANDMA BOUGHT THAT CAR.
