Queen of Bedlam
by Robert McCammon
The Queen of Bedlam opens in 1702, some three years after the harrowing experiences of Speaks the Nightbird. Matthew is now living in the nascent metropolis of New York City and has found unsatisfying employment as a poorly paid clerk to a local magistrate. At this juncture, two related events take place that will radically alter Matthew’s future. One is the advent of a murderous predator—popularly known as the Masker—who terrorizes the city. The other is Matthew’s recruitment by the Herrald Agency, an early prototype of the classic private detective agency. Under the auspices of his new employer, Matthew, together with his mentor, Hudson Greathouse, travels to a mental hospital in rural New Jersey, where he meets an unidentified woman known simply as the Queen of Bedlam, a woman who may hold the key to the Masker’s identity.
The Queen of Bedlam is a crime story, of course, and a genuinely enthralling one. More than that, it is a portrait of colonial New York so vibrant and richly detailed that it is almost palpable. The sights, smells, and sounds—the sheer physical reality of that time and place—are drawn with the sure hand of a master storyteller. Supplementing all this is a varied cast of supporting characters who are by turns comic, bizarre, intriguing, endearing, and, in some instances, terrifying. At the center of it all is Matthew Corbett, a gifted young man beginning to discover who—and what—he is meant to become. He is a hero suited to his times, and a fictional creation destined to endure for a very long time to come.
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The Queen of Bedlam opens in 1702, some three years after the harrowing experiences of Speaks the Nightbird. Matthew is now living in the nascent metropolis of New York City and has found unsatisfying employment as a poorly paid clerk to a local magistrate. At this juncture, two related events take place that will radically alter Matthew’s future. One is the advent of a murderous predator—popularly known as the Masker—who terrorizes the city. The other is Matthew’s recruitment by the Herrald Agency, an early prototype of the classic private detective agency. Under the auspices of his new employer, Matthew, together with his mentor, Hudson Greathouse, travels to a mental hospital in rural New Jersey, where he meets an unidentified woman known simply as the Queen of Bedlam, a woman who may hold the key to the Masker’s identity. The Queen of Bedlam is a crime story, of course, and a genuinely enthralling one. More than that, it is a portrait of colonial New York so vibrant and richly detailed that it is almost palpable. The sights, smells, and sounds—the sheer physical reality of that time and place—are drawn with the sure hand of a master storyteller. Supplementing all this is a varied cast of supporting characters who are by turns comic, bizarre, intriguing, endearing, and, in some instances, terrifying. At the center of it all is Matthew Corbett, a gifted young man beginning to discover who—and what—he is meant to become. He is a hero suited to his times, and a fictional creation destined to endure for a very long time to come.