‘A labyrinthine mystery in the heart of a teeming London, involving fashionable castrati, espionage and bodies in the Thames … We are immersed in Harriet’s London, and the city is evoked with a Dickensian exuberance’ Independent
LONDON, 1781
The streets of London seethe with rumour as the King’s navy battles the French. In one part of town, the privileged revel in their wealth and celebrity. But elsewhere a body is dragged from the Thames’ murky waters. Is this an ordinary drowning – or part of a treacherous conspiracy betraying England’s most precious secrets?
A LETHAL PURSUIT
Harriet Westerman awaits news of her husband, gravely injured at sea, and seeks distraction. A passionate believer in justice, she and reclusive anatomist Gabriel Crowther agree to examine the dead man’s body, risking accusations of an unnatural interest in murder. With the nation’s safety at stake, personal reputation must yield to the pursuit of truth, but Harriet and Crowther do not realise how dangerous their investigation will become …
‘Memorable prose, strong and unusual leads, a sophisticated plot with several unexpected turns, and an accurate portrayal of the period all make this a winner’ Publishers Weekly