Review: A Grave For A Thief by Douglas Skelton

Synopsis: England, 1716. The only certainty in a thief’s life… is death.

Christopher Templeton is a lawyer whose conscience troubles him. He knows many of the secrets of The Fellowship, the shadowy group profiting from the civil unrest in the nation, and has intimated to the Company of Rogues that he is willing to share them.

The problem is, he has vanished. Jonas Flynt – thief, gambler, killer – still recovering from a duel with death upon the frozen Thames, is tasked with finding him.

The trail takes him from the dark slums of London to a quiet village in the north of England, where all is not as it seems. But while he hunts for the missing man, someone else may be stalking him… someone with murder in their heart.

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Honestly, I am loving this series from Skelton. As I have mentioned previously, the timeline is set outside of my usual historical fiction parameters - but I am glad that I have dipped my toe into the Hanoverian period.

Flynt is back, and being sent on another shadowy mission by Charters. Characters from the previous two books make an appearance (so reading the series from the start is a must), and a new character is introduced, who is not unknown to Flynt. A help or hinderance is debtable.

The cat and mouse game is played out in both London and ending in some rural village, where not all is as it seems. Who is hunter and who is prey will be determined at the final customary stand-off (evil versus, well in this instance, good).

For this book, however, Skelton has decided not to draw on an actual historical event for the plotline - however, this does in no way detract from the story at hand. The elements are all there: crime, mystery, espionage, rebellion, revenge - and the tale is deftly spun, entangling the reader in its web.

Overall, this book, like its predecessors, is an enjoyable romp through the underbelly of Hanoverian England, still under threat from those damnable Jacobites. And I for one, am looking forward to more!

Series Reviews:

1. An Honorable Thief

2. A Thief's Justice

Review: A Thief's Justice by Douglas Skelton

Synopsis: London, 1716. Revenge is a dish best served ice cold…The city is caught in the vice-like grip of a savage winter. Even the Thames has frozen over. But for Jonas Flynt – thief, gambler, killer – the chilling elements are the least of his worries…

Justice Geoffrey Dumont has been found dead at the base of St Paul’s cathedral, and a young male sex-worker, Sam Yates, has been taken into custody for the murder. Yates denies all charges, claiming he had received a message to meet the judge at the exact time of death.

The young man is a friend of Belle St Clair, and she asks Flynt to look into the murder. Their probing leads them to possible government corruption, Jacobite plots, the horrors of Newgate prison, and a desperate showdown on the ice.

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I will preface this by saying to the reader - please read the first in the series - An Honorable Thief.

This is the second in the series, set in 18th Century Hanoveran London, Queen Anne, who died in 1714, was succeeded by her second cousin, the Elector of Hanover, George I, as Under the Act of Settlement 1701, excluded Roman Catholics from the line of succession - and this included her half-brother, the Catholic James Edward Stuart.

Once again, Jonas Flynt is set a task (no questions asked) by Colonel Nathaniel Charters, puppet / spy master, head of the Company of Rogues. It is another tale heavy with murder, Jacobite plots, and espionage, as Jonas traverses the underbelly of London in the service of Charters.

I will say this - one of the events in the tale is based on fact, which I loved reading about!

Looking forward to the next in the series - A Grave For A Thief - and to eventually sitting down with the whole series and starting from the beginning again.