The Ashes of London (James Marwood & Cat Lovett, Book 1) (James Marwood & Cat Lovett) - Softcover

Andrew Taylor

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0008119090 ISBN 13: 9780008119096

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 2017

Synopsis

London, September 1666. The Great Fire rages through the city, consuming everything in its path. Even the impregnable cathedral of St. Paul's is engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins. Among the crowds watching its destruction is Richard Marwood, son of a disgraced printer, and reluctant government informer. In the aftermath of the fire, a semi-mummified body is discovered in the ashes of St. Paul's, in a tomb that should have been empty. The man's body has been mutilated and his thumbs have been tied behind his back - the sign of a Regicide, one of those who signed Charles I's death warrant. Under orders from the government, Marwood is tasked with hunting down the killer across the devastated city. But at a time of dangerous internal dissent and the threat of foreign invasion, Marwood finds his investigation leads him into treacherous waters - and across the path of a determined, beautiful and vengeful young woman.

About this title

About the Author

Andrew Taylor is the author of a number of crime novels, including the ground-breaking Roth Trilogy, which was adapted into the acclaimed TV drama Fallen Angel, and the historical crime novels The Silent Boy, The Scent of Death and The American Boy, a No.1 Sunday Times bestseller and a 2005 Richard & Judy Book Club Choice. He has won many awards, including the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger, an Edgar Scroll from the Mystery Writers of America, the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award (the only author to win it three times) and the CWA's prestigious Diamond Dagger, awarded for sustained excellence in crime writing. He also writes for the Spectator. He lives with his wife Caroline in the Forest of Dean.

Review

`Ashes of London is terrific' Sarah Hilary `The Ashes of London presents a breathtakingly ambitious picture of an era ... the multiple narrative strands are drawn together in a brilliantly orchestrated finale' Financial Times `In this elegant, engrossing novel set during an extraordinary period, Taylor skilfully presents a London in which so many must still pay the price for the Civil War and the murder of King Charles I' Sunday Express `One of the most reliably enjoyable of historical novelists ... Taylor demonstrates his usual command of plot and historical background' The Sunday Times 'A complex weave of history and mystery and the first of a new series from Andrew Taylor' The i `The author conveys the confusion and uncertainty of the times in a pacy story of Charles II's desire for vengeance, the struggle to rebuild a stricken city and the hunt for a murderer' Daily Mail `This is terrific stuff: intelligent, engrossing and, in its evocation of a long-vanished London, wonderfully plausible.' Toby Clements, Daily Telegraph 'The Ashes of London weaves a pacy story from the framework of true events. A new Shardlake may rise from the ashes' The Times `Andrew Taylor provides a masterclass in how to weave a well-researched history into a complex plot.' The Times, Books of the Year `Thrilling... Gripping, fast-moving and credible... It's a well-constructed political thriller with moments of horror, admirable and enjoyable. Taylor has done his research so thoroughly as to be unobtrusive' Spectator `Finely wrought and solidly researched... The novel's plot is fiendishly complex' Sunday Telegraph

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0008119090
• ISBN 13: 9780008119096
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 482