‘Blood on the Strand’  by Susanna Gregory
Published by Sphere. January 2007:
ISBN 978-1-84744-002-0

Rebellion is in the air of London in the spring of 1663. Thomas Chaloner, spy for the King’s intelligence service, has just returned from thwarting a planned revolt in Dublin, but soon realises that England’s capital is no haven of peace. He is ordered to investigate the shooting of a beggar during a royal procession. He soon learns the man is no vagrant, but someone with links to the powerful Company of Barber-Surgeons. His master, the Earl of Clarendon, is locked in a deadly feud with the Earl of Bristol, and an innocent man is about to be hanged in Newgate. Chaloner is embroiled in a desperate race against time to protect Clarendon, to discover the true identity of the beggar’s murderer, and to save a blameless man from the executioner’s noose.

The atmosphere of restoration London is impeccably drawn in this book (not that I know what it was like, but an educated guess says smelly and brutish and without the comfort of street lights). Political intrigue abounds and where there are spies and secrets, death is never far behind.

In Blood on the Strand, Susanna Gregory has woven a sinister tale full of malevolence and violent repercussions. Most of the characters wouldn’t know the truth if they fell over it but Thomas Chaloner leads us through the intrigue with a sure and steady gait, revealing the murk that lies at the centre of political life in the process (t’was ever thus).

There are bits of this book that I wouldn’t recommend you read just after you’ve had your tea – or just before a doctor’s appointment. But read it you should.
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Ruth Wade