Synopses & Reviews
Superspy of Restoration London Thomas Chaloner foils an uprising in his eighth outing
Five years after Charles II's triumphant return to London there is growing mistrust of his extravagant court and of corruption among his officials—and when a cart laden with gunpowder explodes outside the General Letter Office, it is immediately clear that such an act is more than an expression of outrage at the inefficiency of the postal service. As intelligencer to the Lord Chamberlain, Thomas Chaloner cannot understand why a man of known incompetence is put in charge of investigating the attack while he is diverted to make enquiries about the poisoning of birds in the King's aviary in St James's Park. He becomes even more suspicious of his employer's motives when he discovers that the witnesses he needs to interview have close links to the business conducted in the General Letter Office, activities more firmly centered on intercepting people's mail than delivering it. When human rather than avian victims are poisoned, Chaloner must ignore his master's instructions and use his own considerable wits to defeat an enemy whose deadly tentacles reach into the very heart of the government—an enemy who has the power and expertise to destroy anyone who stands in the way.
Review
"Gregory's exciting, intrigue-filled fifth mystery featuring English spy Thomas Chaloner . . . reinforces this British author's place in the front rank of those penning historicals in the genre." —Publishers Weekly starred review of A Murder on London Bridge
Review
"Brilliantly evokes 1663 London . . . Gregory salts the plot with several tantalizing subsidiary puzzles." —Publishers Weekly starred review of The Butcher of Smithfield
Review
"As usual, Gregory does a fine job integrating fact and fiction." —Publishers Weekly on The Body in the Thames
Review
"Gregory has never been better at juggling multiple plots than in her superior seventh historical. . . . Crystal-clear prose and deliberate pacing ensure that the reader can follow the twisted trails to the truth as well as Chaloner can." —Publishers Weekly starred review of The Piccadilly Plot
Synopsis
In 1665 England is facing war with the Dutch and the capital is awash with rumours of conspiracy and sedition. As an experienced investigator, Thomas Chaloner knows that there are very few grains of truth in the shifting sands of the rumour-mill, but the murder of Paul Ferine, a Groom of the Robes, in a brothel favoured by the elite of the Palace of White Hall makes him scent a whiff of genuine treason.
As well as investigating the murder, Chaloner is charged with tracking down the leaders of a fanatical sect known as the Fifth Monarchists. As he comes to know more about the group and their meetings on High Holborn, he discovers a puzzling number of connections - to both Ferine's murder and those involved with the defence of the realm. Connections that he must disentangle before it is too late to save the country . . .
Synopsis
Once again, Gregory brings to bear her extraordinary ability to paint a period picture of London in all its grimness and grittiness. Hats off to the lady - Daily Mail
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The ninth adventure for Chaloner sees the Restoration London spy foil a conspiracy
In 1665 England is facing war with the Dutch and the capital is awash with rumours of conspiracy and sedition. As an experienced investigator, Thomas Chaloner knows that there are very few grains of truth in the shifting sands of the rumour-mill, but the murder of Paul Ferine, a Groom of the Robes, in a brothel favoured by the elite of the Palace of White Hall makes him scent a whiff of genuine treason.
As well as investigating the murder, Chaloner is charged with tracking down the leaders of a fanatical sect known as the Fifth Monarchists. As he comes to know more about the group and their meetings on High Holborn, he discovers a puzzling number of connections - to both Ferine's murder and those involved with the defence of the realm. Connections that he must disentangle before it is too late to save the country . . .
Synopsis
The ninth adventure for Chaloner sees the Restoration London spy foil a conspiracy In 1665 England faces war with the Dutch and the capital is awash with rumors of conspiracy and sedition. As an experienced investigator, Thomas Chaloner knows that there are very few grains of truth in the shifting sands of the rumor-mill, but the murder of Paul Ferine, a Groom of the Robes, in a brothel favored by the elite of the Palace of White Hall makes him scent a whiff of genuine treason. As well as investigating the murder, Chaloner is charged with tracking down the leaders of a fanatical sect known as the Fifth Monarchists. As he comes to know more about the group and their meetings on High Holborn, he discovers a puzzling number of connections—to both Ferine's murder and those involved with the defense of the realm. Connections that he must disentangle before it is too late to save the country.
Synopsis
The seventh Thomas Chaloner adventure in Restoration London
Thomas Chaloner is relieved to be summoned back to London after his master, the Earl of Clarendon, sent him to Tangier to investigate a case of corruption. Chaloner will be glad to be home and reunited with his new wife, but the trivial reason for his recall exasperates him—the theft of material from the construction site of Clarendon's embarrassingly sumptuous new house just north of Piccadilly. Within hours of his return, Chaloner considers these thefts even more paltry as he is thrust into extra investigations involving threats of assassination, a stolen corpse, and a scheme to frame the Queen for treason. Yet there are connections from them all that thread through the unfinished Clarendon House.
About the Author
Susanna Gregory is a Cambridge academic and the author of the Thomas Chaloner series.