First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday! Hosted by Socrates Book Reviews this is where you share the first paragraph of one of the books that you are currently reading.

Monday, August 6, 1888, was a bank holiday, and London was a carnival of wondrous things to do for as little as pennies if one could spare a few. The bells of Windsor’s Parish Church and St. George’s Chapel rang all day. Ships were dressed in flags. Royal salutes boomed from cannons to celebrate the Duke of Edinburgh’s forty-fourth birthday. The Crystal Palace dazzled with every entertainment imaginable.”

Ripper: The Secret Life of Walter Sickert by Patricia Cornwell