Book 35: A Murder on London Bridge by Susanna Gregory:
Book 35: A Murder on London Bridge (Thomas Chaloner #5).
Author: Susanna Gregory, 2009.
Genre: Historical Fiction. Restoration. Spy Thriller.
Other Details: ebook. 465 pages.
Thomas Chaloner has forged a living as spy to the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Clarendon, since the early days of the Restoration. Now, in February 1664, he is aware of an undercurrent of restlessness on the streets of London. The coffee houses are thick with rumours. There is anger at the new laws governing church attendance and a deepening contempt for the loucheness of the court. And there is murder.
The infamous church-smasher Dick Culmer is killed among the tottering, ramshackle buildings of London Bridge and Chaloner's investigations into the death link Culmer to a group of puritan conspirators. Further west, in the opulence of Somerset House and in the Palace of White Hall, Chaloner gradually realises that the ring-leaders of a rebellion are planning an explosive climax to achieve their goals. Desperately racing against time, Chaloner is determined to thwart them - as determined as they are to prevent him revealing their true intentions ... - synopsis from UK publisher's website.
This is such an excellent series of historical spy thrillers. I found the first one a little hard to get into due to the level of detail but quickly got into Susanna Gregory's style and found I loved it This high degree of detail is accompanied by many characters and and a variety of sub-plots. Although there are a number of high profile historical figures the strength of the series is in its social history and the minor players taken from the ranks of civil servants, the working class and others.
In this outing poor Thomas once again is tasked with having to solve a number of mysteries for his demanding employer. Again it was interesting to find out who in the story actually lived and what events happened. As the title suggests here there is a lot about the history and urban legends of the time about London Bridge.
In a number of Goodreads reviews low ratings were given by readers who had jumped into the series with this book rather than starting with Book One A Conspiracy of Violence. Some series can work as stand-alone but for character development I always recommend starting at the beginning and here the density of detail and complexity of relationships I would underline that suggestion.
Cross-posted to 50bookchallenge.