A first novel, this book is a triumph of evocative writing, a gripping story, and historical intrigue. It scores very well as a conspiracy too.
Napoleon and his armies are at the gates of the ancient walled city of Lucca, Italy. In one last desperate attempt to preserve their proud heritage, the Lucchese Council despatch a secret message to their compatriots in England. Ruthless conspirators want to get their hands on this message, but no one quite knows what they are looking for, and the one person who can tell them has walked into a church and slit his own throat. A young woman, Mabel Flinchurst, witnesses this gruesome act and here starts a chain of events that will see her in mortal danger as she gets caught up in things she can’t possibly understand.
Guardians of the Key is an engrossing read that provides a satisfyingly complex plot along with, as in all the best historical fiction, a glimpse of what it must have been like to live in such blood-thirsty times. Clio Gray’s characters come vividly to life on the page and move in a world so artfully painted that you can almost taste it. I do hope she writes many more books like this. I shall certainly be adding them to my shelves if she does.
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Ruth Wade