Liz Hodgkinson struck gold when she began researching a mysterious woman for her latest book A Mink Coat in St Neots. The glamorous lady had often visited the flower shop that Liz’s mother ran in the 1960s in the small town of St. Neots.
“I had no idea what I was going to unearth if at all. If you are lucky, initial searches might reveal an exciting find, a cache of letters perhaps, or an unpublished diary”. As it turned out, Liz was rewarded.
The mystery shopper, who looked like a “Hollywood star”, often only wore a mink coat and was known by five different surnames. It turns out she was a “wealthy Russian princess” Liz revealed. In the National Archives at Kew, Liz found out the truth about a huge scandal of espionage and true crime.
The Russian woman was a Mitford-esq character who lined up her husbands. “She made sure she never shed an existing husband until she had the next one lined up!” Liz grinned, “she married her second husband, the day her Decree Absolute came through from her first husband!”
Now, that is ruthless!
