The Butcher Of Smithfield: 3

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

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The third adventure in the Thomas Chaloner series.

Having just returned from a clandestine excursion to Spain and Portugal on behalf of the Queen, Thomas Chaloner finds London dank and grey under leaden skies. He finds many things changed, including the Government slapping a tax on printed newspapers. Handwritten news reports escape the duty, and the rivalry between the producers of the two conduits of news is the talk of the coffee houses with the battle to be first with any sort of intelligence escalating into violent rivalry. And it seems that a number of citizens who have eaten cucumbers have come to untimely deaths.

It is such a death which Chaloner is despatched to investigate; that of a lawyer with links to ''the Butcher of Smithfield'', a shady trader surrounded by a fearsome gang of thugs who terrorise the streets well beyond the confines of Smithfield market. Chaloner doesn''t believe that either this death or the others are caused by a simple vegetable, but to prove his theory he has to untangle the devious means of how news is gathered and he has to put his personal safety aside as he tries to penetrate the rumour mill surrounding the Butcher of Smithfield and discover his real identity.

''Pungent with historical detail'' (Irish Times)

''A richly imagined world of colourful medieval society and irresistible monkish sleuthing'' (Good Book Guide)

''Corpses a-plenty, exciting action sequences and a satisfying ending'' (Mystery People)