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.