The Cheapside Corpse

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 1405530626
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 397

Book Description
Another excellent historical adventure from Susanna Gregory featuring 17th-century spy Thomas Chaloner ------------------------ London in the spring of 1665 is a city full of fear. There is plague in the stews of St Giles, the Dutch fleet is preparing to invade, and a banking crisis threatens to leave Charles II's government with no means of paying for the nation's defence. Amid the tension, Thomas Chaloner is ordered to investigate the murder of Dick Wheler, one of the few goldsmith-bankers to have survived the losses that have driven others to bankruptcy - or worse. At the same time, a French spy staggers across the city, carrying the plague from one parish to another. Chaloner's foray into the world of the financiers who live in and around Cheapside quickly convinces him that they are just as great a threat as the Dutch, but their power and greed thwart him at every turn. Meanwhile, the plague continues to spread across the city, and the body count from the disease and from the fever of avarice starts to rise alarmingly . . .

Murder on High Holborn

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 0748121072
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
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 --------------------------- 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 . . .

The Executioner of St Paul's

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 1405530642
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
In another historical adventure from Susanna Gregory, Chaloner the spy investigates a murder in a plague-ravaged 17th century London The plague raging through London in 1665 has emptied the city. The only people left are those too poor to flee, or those who selflessly struggle to control the contagion and safeguard the capital's future. Amongst them, though, are those prepared to risk their health for money - those who sell dubious 'cures' and hawk food at wildly inflated prices. Also amongst them are those who hold in their hands the future of the city's most iconic building - St Paul's Cathedral. The handsome edifice is crumbling from decades of neglect and indecision, giving the current custodians a stark choice - repair or demolish. Both sides have fanatical adherents who have been fighting each other since the Civil Wars. Large sums of money have disappeared, major players have mysteriously vanished, and then a unidentified skeleton is discovered in another man's grave. A reluctant Chaloner returns to London to investigate, only to discover that someone is determined to thwart him by any means - by bullet, poison or bludgeon - and he fears he has very little time to identify the culprits before he becomes yet another victim in the battle for the Cathedral's future.

A Poisonous Plot

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 1405516836
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 318

Book Description
The twenty first chronicle in the Matthew Bartholomew series. In 1358, over a century after its foundation in Cambridge, the college of Michaelhouse is facing a serious shortfall of funds and competition from upstarts rivals such as Zachary Hostel. Their problems are made no easier by the hostility of the town's inhabitants who favour the university moving away to the Fens. This simmering tension threatens to break into violence when a well-known tradesman is found dead in one of the colleges. Matthew Bartholomew knows he was poisoned but cannot identify the actual substance, never mind the killer. He also worries that other illnesses and deaths may have been caused by the effluent from his sister's dye works. Torn between loyalties to his kin and to his college, he fears the truth may destroy both his personal and professional life, but he knows he must use his skills as a physician to discover the truth before many more lose their lives entirely. 'A first-rate treat for mystery lovers' (Historical Novels Review) 'Susanna Gregory has an extraordinary ability to conjure up a strong sense of time and place' (Choice)

The Clerkenwell Affair

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 0751562726
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 464

Book Description
In the spring of 1666 everyone's first reaction to a sudden death at the palace of White Hall is that the plague has struck, but the killing of Thomas Chiffinch was by design, not disease. Chiffinch was holder of two influential posts - Keeper of the Closet and Keeper of the Jewels - and rival courtiers have made no secret of their wish to succeed to those offices. To Thomas Chaloner, ordered to undertake the investigation, such avarice gives a whole host of suspects an ample motive for murder. The same courtiers are at the heart of the royal entourage endorsing the King's licentious and ribald way of life, and Chaloner has some sympathy with the atmosphere of outrage and disgust at such behaviour. London's citizens, already irked by the wealthy fleeing to the country at the outbreak of the plague, have scant patience with the Court on its return. The city is abuzz with rumours of dissent and rebellion, fuelled by predictions from a soothsayer in Clerkenwell of a rain of fire destroying the capital on Good Friday. Chaloner initially dismisses such talk as nonsense, but as he uncovers ever more connections to Clerkenwell among his suspects, he begins to fear that there is also design behind the rumours - and that, come Easter Day, the King and his Court might find themselves the focus of yet another rebellion.

Intrigue in Covent Garden

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 0751562718
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 267

Book Description
In the thirteenth historical adventure by Susanna Gregory, Chaloner faces a barrage of problems in the latest case for the 17th-century spy ----------------------------------- By January 1666, the plague has almost disappeared from London, leaving its surviving population diminished and in poverty. The resentment against those who had fled to the country turns to outrage as the court and its followers return, their licentiousness undiminished. The death of a well-connected physician, the mysterious sinking of a man-of-war in the Thames and the disappearance of a popular courtier are causing concern to Thomas Chaloner's employer. When instructed to investigate them all, he is irritated that he is prevented from gaining intelligence on the military preparations of the Dutch. Then he discovers common threads in all the cases, which seem linked to those planning to set a match to the powder keg of rebellion in the city. Battling a ferocious winter storm that causes serious damage to London's fabric, Chaloner is in a race against time to prevent the weakened city from utter destruction.

The Chelsea Strangler

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 1405530634
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Book Description
The eleventh historical adventure from Susanna Gregory featuring 17th-century spy Thomas Chaloner In the sapping summer heat of 1665 there is little celebration in London of the naval victory at the Battle of Lowestoft. The King, his retinue and anyone with sufficient means has fled the plague-ridden city, its half-deserted streets echoing to the sound of bells tolling the mounting number of deaths. Those who remain clutch doubtful potions to ward off the relentless disease and dart nervously past shuttered buildings, watchful for the thieves who risk their lives to plunder what has been left behind. At Chelsea, a rural backwater by the river, with fine mansions leased to minor members of the Court avoiding the capital, there are more immediate concerns: the government has commandeered the theological college to house Dutch prisoners of war and there are daily rumours that those sailors are on the brink of escaping. Moreover, a vicious strangler is stalking the neighbourhood. Thomas Chaloner is sent to investigate the murder of the first victim, an inmate of a private sanatorium known as Gorges. There have been thefts there as well, but the few facts he gleans from inmates and staff are contradictory and elusive. He realises, though, that Gorges has stronger links to the prison than just proximity, and that the influx of strangers offers plenty of camouflage for a killer - a killer who has no compunction about turning on those determined to stop his murderous rampage.

The Habit of Murder

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 0751562629
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Book Description
For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk's cases with beautiful new series-style covers. ------------------------------------ The twenty third chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew. In 1360 a deputation from Cambridge ventures to the Suffolk town of Clare in the hope that the wealthy Elizabeth de Burgh has left a legacy to Michaelhouse. Yet when they arrive they discover that the report of her death is false and that the college seems destined for bankruptcy. Determined to see if some of its well-heeled citizens can be persuaded to sponsor Michaelhouse, Matthew Bartholomew, Brother Michael and Master Langelee become enmeshed in the town's politics. They quickly discover that a great many other people in Clare have recently met untimely deaths. These killings, combined with the arrogance Lady de Burgh has shown over the refurbishment of the church and the grotesque behaviour of some of her entourage, have created a dangerous restlessness in the town: an atmosphere intensified when yet more murders occur. One of the victims is a fellow traveller of the Michaelhouse contingent, and Matthew Bartholomew and Brother Michael feel honour-bound to identify his killer. It is a hunt which takes them deep into Clare's murky foundations and which threatens their own survival as well as that of their beloved college. 'A first-rate treat for mystery lovers' (Historical Novels Review) 'Susanna Gregory has an extraordinary ability to conjure up a strong sense of time and place' (Choice)

A Grave Concern

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 1405516844
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Book Description
For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk's cases with beautiful new series-style covers. ------------------------------------ The twenty second chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew. Identifying the murderer of the Chancellor of the University is not the only challenge facing physician Matthew Bartholomew. Many of his patients have been made worse by the ministrations of a 'surgeon' recently arrived from Nottingham, his sister is being rooked by the mason she has commissioned to build her husband's tomb, and his friend, Brother Michael, has been offered a Bishopric which will cause him to leave Cambridge. Brother Michael, keen to leave the University in good order, is determined that the new Chancellor will be a man of his choosing. The number of contenders putting themselves forward for election threatens to get out of control, then more deaths in mysterious circumstances make it appear that someone is taking extreme measures to manipulate the competition. With passions running high and a bold killer at large, both Bartholomew and Brother Michael fear the very future of the University is at stake. 'A first-rate treat for mystery lovers' (Historical Novels Review) 'Susanna Gregory has an extraordinary ability to conjure up a strong sense of time and place' (Choice)

The Pudding Lane Plot

Author: Susanna Gregory
Publisher: Sphere
ISBN: 0751581887
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 388

Book Description
The people and businesses of London are quickly recovering from the ravages of the plague, none faster than the Court of Charles II where excess, corruption and debauchery has rebounded at a frenetic pace. In Westminster, in the haphazard corridors of White Hall Palace, plans are afoot for a grandiose ball in honour of a long-dead but English-born Pope. Meanwhile, the markets and coffee houses in the city are awash with rumours of war and portents of a coming disaster, inflamed by uncensored newssheets and the wagging tongues of dissatisfied citizens. Mysterious killings at both ends of the capital have been caused by the use of an unusually long, slender blade, and Thomas Chaloner is ordered to investigate. The only common thread is the victims' connection to the Worshipful Company of Poulters, whose members are struggling to keep ahead of London's enormous demand for eggs. But this leads him into a tapestry of conspiracy, outlandish claims of the Second Coming, the reappearance of a number of regicides and ever more brazen killings. As the date of the great ball looms closer, Chaloner fears that there is a dangerously credible conspiracy against the throne, and he has very little time to prevent history from repeating itself . . .