Deborah Swift

Sadie Appleby has never left rural Westmorland. But one night in the winter of 1661, she is woken by her sister, Ella, who has robbed her employer and is on the run. Together the girls flee for London. But the dead man's relatives are in pursuit.

Naples, 1633. Giulia Tofana longs for more responsibility in her mother’s apothecary business, but Mamma has always been secretive and refuses to tell her the hidden keys to her success. But the day Mamma is arrested for the poisoning of the powerful Duke de Verdi, Giulia is shocked to uncover the darker side of her trade. Giulia must run for her life, and escapes to Naples to the home of her Aunt Isabetta, a famous courtesan. But when Giulia hears that her mother has been executed she swears she will wreak revenge on the Duke de Verdi.