Mistress of the Just Land is a captivating murder mystery that takes place in the gritty streets of Edinburgh during the Victorian era. Jean Brash's character is a combination of strength, intelligence, and cunning, making this novel a must-read for fans of female-led historical crime fiction. The book's unique feature is its focus on the life of the protagonist, a former child of the streets who now runs one of Edinburgh's most famous brothels. David Ashton's writing style is elegant and immersive, transporting the reader back to a time that is both brutal and enchanting. Overall, if you're looking for a well-written, exciting, and historically accurate detective novel, then Mistress of the Just Land is for you.

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'Jean Brash is my favourite character and David Ashton's writing is as delicious, elegant and compelling as she is' Siobhan Redmond (Jean Brash in BBC Radio 4's McLevy series)Jean Brash, who first appeared in BBC Radio 4's Inspector McLevy mysteries, is a formidable woman in her prime. Once a child of the streets, she is now Mistress of the Just Land, the best bawdy-hoose in Edinburgh and her pride and joy. But a murder in her establishment could wreck everything.New Year's Day - and through the misty streets of Victorian Edinburgh an elegant, female figure walks the cobblestones - with a certain vengeful purpose. Jean Brash, the Mistress of the Just Land, brings her cool intelligence to solving a murder, a murder that took place in her own bawdy-hoose. A prominent judge, strangled and left dangling, could bring her whole life to ruin and she didn't haul herself off the streets, up through low dirty houses of pleasure and violent vicious men - to let that come to pass. The search for the killers will take Jean back into her own dark past as she uncovers a web of political and sexual corruption in the high reaches of the Edinburgh establishment. A young boy's death long ago is demanding justice but, as the body count increases, she has little time before a certain Inspector James McLevy comes sniffing round like a wolf on the prowl. Jean may be on the side of natural justice but is she on the side of the law? Or will the law bring her down?

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