A Conspiracy Of Violence

Trade Paperback

1

Now in B format

Susanna Gregory, creator of the Matthew Bartholomew series of mediaeval mysteries, has created another compelling fictional detective set in Restoration London.

The dour days of Cromwell are over. Charles II is well established at White Hall Palace, his mistress at hand in rooms over the Holbein bridge, the heads of some of the regicides on public display. London seethes with new energy, freed from the strictures of the Protectorate, but many of its inhabitants have lost their livelihoods. One is Thomas Chaloner, a reluctant spy for the feared Secretary of State, John Thurloe, and now returned from Holland in desperate need of employment. His erstwhile boss, knowing he has many enemies at court, recommends Thomas to Lord Clarendon, but in return demands that Thomas keep him informed of any plot against him. Chaloner discovers and volunteers to investigate the suspicious death of another ex-employee to White Hall sent by Thurloe: instead he is despatched to the Tower to unearth buried gold. But instead of treasure, he discovers that greed and self-interest are uppermost in men's minds whoever is in power, and that his life has no value to either side.