The Butcher of Smithfield: Chaloner's Third Exploit in Restoration London - The Exploits of Thomas Chaloner

by Susanna Gregory

Format: Paperback 512 pages

Out of stock

Usually despatched in 3-5 days

Price check

RRP £9.99

£7.49

You save: £2.50

Delivered FREE
in the UK

Synopsis

Thomas Chaloner, just returned from a clandestine excursion to Spain and Portugal on behalf of the Queen, 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.

Book details

Published
04/12/2008

Publisher
Sphere

ISBN
9780751539547



Publisher and industry reviews

Jacket review

"A mine of historical information." --"Kirkus Reviews"

Other books by this author See all titles

 

Customers who bought this title, also bought...

This book can be found in...

The prices displayed are for website purchases only, and may differ to the prices in Waterstone's stores.