The Ashes of London: The first book in the brilliant historical crime mystery series from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author: Book 1 (James Marwood & Cat Lovett)

Product Information

July: Third one-day international, The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton - England won by 69 runs Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival. His most recent books are historical novels as well as crime fiction. They explore different historical eras: Bleeding Heart Square, is set in the 1930s mainly in London (2008); The Anatomy of Ghosts (2010), set in eighteenth-century Cambridge; The Scent of Death, set in British New York, 1778–80; and its sequel, The Silent Boy (2014), during the French Revolution.

More like The Ashes of London: The first book in the brilliant historical crime mystery series from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author (James Marwood & Cat Lovett, Book 1)Recent crime fiction". The Spectator. 311 (9446): 36–37. 12 September 2009. Archived from the original on 22 September 2009 . Retrieved 20 June 2011. We meet James Marwood, the son of a traitor, who is forced to hunt the killer of a servant of a prominent merchant.

The fifth and final men's Test begins on 27 July, with Australia having retained the Ashes following a rain-affected draw at Old Trafford in the fourth Test.Set in the immediate aftermath of the Great Fire of London in 1666, the central characters are James Marwood and Cat Lovett. The monarchy has just been restored after Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth and Charles II is looking for revenge over the 'Regicides', the people who had executed his father Charles I in 1649. Lovett's father is Regicide, while Marwood's is an old Cromwell supporter but who has dementia. I'm pretty fussy about historical fiction: I've read too many rubbish stories where the author has become obsessed with telling me the history and forgetting to tell me a story. But this was a bit different. London,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 James Marwood, son of a traitor, and reluctant government informer. Andrew Taylor provides a masterclass in how to weave a well-researched history into a complex plot.' The Times, Books of the Year Enter the story’s two main protagonists. James Marwood is the son of a Republican, who lost everything when Charles II regained the throne. Catherine Lovett is daughter of a regicide – one of that small circle directly involved in the trail and execution of the king’s father. Both are affected and their actions shaped by forces beyond their control. She is a spirited teenager who dreams of becoming an architect and escaping an unsatisfactory marriage her aunt and uncle have arranged. Marwood, the son of another old puritan, is a minor civil servant whose only desire is to live down his notorious name and make his way in the world. When Cat is raped by her cousin, she tries to kill him and is forced into hiding.

Former England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley says action is needed to keep the close connection between fans and players. A masterclass in how to weave a well-researched history into a complex plot’ The Times Over 1 Million Andrew Taylor Novels Sold!

Review

I really enjoyed this book and was fascinated by the politics and history of the period. I look forward to reading the sequel. Even if you've read Pepys on the Great Fire you don't get as vivid a portrait as Taylor gives in this novel. The heat, the winds, the burning embers, the almost spontaneous flaming and the fact that it went on for months after the main fire was subdued are all vividly portrayed in this novel, which is apparently the first in a series. Andrew Taylor grew up in East Anglia. He read English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and has an MA in Library, Archive and Information Science from University College London. We meet another character Cat, she has dreams and passions for the future but she is a young lady with intelligence and desire. But now she is in dire trouble and her life is in peril. She has no choice but to run.

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 The Ashes of London weaves a pacy story from the framework of true events. A new Shardlake may rise from the ashes' The Times

Taylor creates fascinating characters and intermingles them with actual historical figures, yet without ever allowing the fictional characters to be overshadowed. As well as carrying the story, they facilitate the conveying of historical facts about which we may never have heard, such as the group known as the Fifth Monarchists. Still, it is Richard, Cat, Mrs. Alderley, Master Hakesby who play critical roles. Mrs. Alderly, in particular, is an interesting character. There is much more to her than we first believe. Hannah’s new novel is an homage to the extraordinary courage and endurance of Frenchwomen during World War II. The son of a traitor, James Marwood is forced to hunt the killer through the city's devastated streets. There he encounters a determined young woman, who will stop at nothing to secure her freedom. This story weaves the lives of these two people; the murders of three people; and the return of King Charles II.