Ribchester's 'gripping' novel set in Edinburgh's 18th-century music scene goes to B&W

Black & White Publishing will publish Murder Ballad by Lucy Ribchester set in Edinburgh’s 18th-century music scene.

Rachel Morrell, editor at the Bonnier Books UK imprint, acquired world rights from Daisy Parente at Lutyens & Rubinstein. Murder Ballad will be published on 20th June 2024.

The blurb reads: “From the award-winning author of The Hourglass Factory comes a dark, historical mystery set in Edinburgh’s dazzling 18th-century music scene. Combining the macabre murder mystery of Patrick Süskind’s Perfume [Penguin] with the feminist slant of Kate Foster’s The Maiden [Mantle], Murder Ballad explores a tale of friendship, betrayal and deadly secrets.”

The novel follows Isobel Duguid and her friend, the celebrated castrato Clessidro, who enjoy an opulent lifestyle as the stars of the Edinburgh Musical Society. Clessidro sings opera and Isobel, despite the objections of the society’s committee, sings dark Scottish ballads, her most notorious being ’The Fiddler’s Wrath’.

Black & White said: “It’s a tale of a prima donna who died of heartbreak after her husband murdered her lover and was sent to the gallows. But this ballad is more than fiction, and when the truth about ’The Fiddler’s Wrath’ comes to light, Isobel must confront ghosts from her own past and face chilling retribution for a secret kept far too long.”

Ribchester said: “From the first conversation I had with Rachel I knew she was the perfect person to publish this book. She has been passionate about the characters, ideas and setting throughout, and we share the same macabre sense of humour.”

Morrell said: “Lucy has created a gripping story exploring ownership and culpability through such a wry lens. Murder Ballad is a dazzling story of deceit, mystery, betrayal and buried secrets.”

Ribchester’s first novel, The Hourglass Factory (Simo & Schuster UK), was longlisted for the Historical Writers Association Debut Crown, picked by Val McDermid for her New Blood panel at Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival, and selected by Waterstones’ Edinburgh branches as their Book of the Year. Ribchester also covers dance, books and children’s events for Scotland’s The List magazine, and writes contemporary thrillers under the name Elle Connel.

In 2013 the Edinburgh-born author received a New Writers Award from The Scottish Book Trust. She has since won a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship and been shortlisted for the Costa Short Story Award and Manchester Fiction Prize.