Stand and Deliver

~ 2nd Novel in the Lyon Family Series by Andre Norton

Synopsis ~

Write-up from an old Amazon.com posting ~

Murray Lyon, son of Fitzhugh Lyon, in the year following 1807 which saw the embargo on American shipping, and eventually the War of 1812.  As a young boy, Murray was taken captive by a Native American tribe, eventually being adopted into the clan. As a young man he returns to Baltimore to find his father gone, the family trading business in ruins, and himself being forced into the mold of Lord Farstarr.

Write-up from the back of the DELL paperback edition ~

Murray Lyon: Son of an insolvent colonial merchant, captive, then honored brother of fierce Creek warriors; skilled woods runner, quick with knife.
Murray Lyon: Viscount Farstarr, unwilling heir to the Earldom of Starr, thanks to the passing of an almost forgotten cousin of his father’s.
Confronted with the treacherous labyrinth of speech, manners and dress that was Regency society, Murray is plunged into dark undercurrents of evil; the undying enmity of an infamous highwayman, the threat of blackmail and disgrace – and even a frame-up for murder.
Only his shrewdness and frontier instincts are arrayed against the wicked deceit that threatens him – until he gains an unlikely ally.
“Andre Norton is a superb storyteller with a narrative pace all her own.” – New York Times

Write-up from a fan ~

Murray Lyon kidnapped as a young boy by the Creek Indian tribe as a slave but later became an honored brother to the tribesmen. He traveled to Baltimore to see his father who is halfway around the world on a Trading mission. Instead, he finds a British lawyer who informs him that his father (Fitzhugh Lyon from YANKEE PRIVATEER) is now Earl of Starr and he is now Viscount Farstarr. He takes Murray to England and gets him a tutor to teach him the ways of polite society (Known as the Ton, as this is Regency period in England) He and some friends get held up by a notorious Bridle Cull (highwayman) known as the Barker. Murray's skill with a throwing knife thwarts the thief and he finds out that such a skill is not "Gentlemanly".  A blackmailer who claims to have proof that Murray's father is not the Earl after all, A frame-up for a murder, a travelling circus and a travelling "horror Show", smugglers and Bow Street runners, retired and otherwise all combine to make for one rollicking good yarn. Even if you have not read Yankee Privateer that will not diminish the pleasure you get reading this one. ~ PG

Reviews ~

Various reviews ~ For more info and other listings see Articles Over the Years

2020 by Judith Tarr

Dedications and Acknowledgements ~

For Robert Adams—not a tale of the future but at least one of the adventurous past.

Bibliography of English Editions ~

• (1984) Published by Dell/Emerald, PB, 0-440-08233-1, 978-0-440-08233-0, $3.25 US $3.95 Canadian, 318pg ~ cover by unknown ~ “First Publication In Any Form”

View the Original contract