A Murder On London Bridge: 5

Thomas Chaloner #5

by Susanna Gregory

Thomas Chaloner has forged a living as spy to the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Clarendon, since the early days of the Restoration. Now, in February 1664, he is aware of an undercurrent of restlessness on the streets of London. The coffee houses are thick with rumours. There is anger at the new laws governing church attendance and a deepening contempt for the loucheness of the court. And there is murder. The infamous church-smasher Dick Culmer is killed among the tottering, ramshackle buildings of London Bridge and Chaloner's investigations into the death link Culmer to a group of puritan conspirators. Further west, in the opulence of Somerset House and in the Palace of White Hall, Chaloner gradually realises that the ring-leaders of a rebellion are planning an explosive climax to achieve their goals. Desperately racing against time, Chaloner is determined to thwart them ??? as determined as they are to prevent him revealing their true intentions ???

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Historical Mystery, Fiction, Historical, 17th Century, Crime

465 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 3, 2009

About the author

Susanna Gregory is the pseudonym of Elizabeth Cruwys, a Cambridge academic who was previously a coroner's officer. She is married to author Beau Riffenburgh who is her co-author on the Simon Beaufort books.

AKA Simon Beaufort

She writes detective fiction, and is noted for her series of mediaeval mysteries featuring Matthew Bartholomew, a teacher of medicine and investigator of murders in 14th-century Cambridge.
These books may have some aspects in common with the Ellis Peters Cadfael series, the mediaeval adventures of a highly intelligent Benedictine monk and herbalist who came to the Benedictine order late in an eventful life, bringing with him considerable secular experience and wisdom combined with a deal of native wit. This sets him apart from his comparatively innocent and naíve monastic brethren. His activities, both as a monk and a healer, embroil him in a series of mysterious crimes, both secular and monastic, and he enthusiastically assumes the rôle of an amateur sleuth. Sceptical of superstition, he is somewhat ahead of his time, and much accurate historical detail is woven into the adventures. But there any resemblance to the comparatively warm-hearted Cadfael series ends: the tone and subject matter of the Gregory novels is far darker and does not shrink from portraying the harsh realities of life in the Middle Ages. The first in the series, A Plague on Both Your Houses is set against the ravages of the Black Death and subsequent novels take much of their subject matter from the attempts of society to recover from this disaster.
These novels bear the marks of much detailed research into mediaeval conditions - many of the supporting characters have names taken from the documentation of the time, referenced at the end of each book - and bring vividly to life the all-pervading squalor of living conditions in England during the Middle Ages. The deep-rooted and pervasive practice of traditional leechcraft as it contrasts with the dawning science of evidence-based medicine is a common bone of contention between Matthew and the students he teaches at Michaelhouse College (now part of Trinity College, Cambridge), whilst the conflict between the students of Cambridge and the townsfolk continually threatens to escalate into violence.
Another series of books, set just after the Restoration of Charles II and featuring Thomas Chaloner, detective and former spy, began with A Conspiracy of Violence published in January 2006, and continues with The Body in the Thames, published in hardback edition January 2011.

Reviews

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in 2012, and its the 5th episode of the wonderful "Thomas Chaloner" series.

It starts with a murder on London Bridge, and Lord Clarendon fears a rebellion against the newly restored monarchy of King Charles II.

Thomas Chaloner, spy now for Lord Clarendon, but also a friend and spy for his former employer, John Thurloe, believes that members of Puritanism are responsible for this murder, and intent on more deadly mischief.

Thomas will encounter that there's a link between the violence and the people who manage the Bridge and its ramshackle buildings.

Wherever Thomas Chaloner comes, he becomes aware of an undercurrent of restlessness in the Capital.

What is to follow is an intriguing investigation, in which Thomas needs his wits and cunning if he wants to solve this case before Shrove Tuesday, and by using them cleverly he will in the end produce a result by solving the murder, and identify the ring-leaders before an extraordinary climax come to fruition.

Very much recommended, for this is another excellent addition to this splendid series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Thrilling Murder On London Bridge"!

[Anne Patkau · Rating 1 out of 5]

London 1664, Thomas Chaloner spies for Lord Clarendon; Puritan former employer versus King Charles successor supporter means distrust on both sides. He follows killer of Green Man, in charge of royal fireworks, whose secret treasonous gunpowder fuses fail to explode first, to eight hooded conspirators who fight with less skill than fanatic ferocity of remembered civil war patriots. After chases, catches, fights, escapes, including lusty bookstore owner Sarah, my interest waned just before autopsy of Green Man p 111.

Reader familiar with names, history, might enjoy more. Are Kaltoff and Philippes really making tide-rings? Does black-garbed Dowager hide Bristol? Will Chaloner marry lover Hannah? I skipped to the end where Chaloner's Cromwell Spymaster and friend Thurloe is of course on the same side, a couple of other unexpected twists to final gun, sword, close confrontation, near final explosions.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s February 1664. Many of London’s populace are disgruntled by laws that have been passed giving strict regulations about worshiping the Anglican way. When Charles II was restored to the throne, the people believed that religious tolerance would be exercised, and now feel that they’ve been misled. The man they blame for these laws, is of course the Earl of Clarendon. Several plots are in the making, most of which overlap and interlink with one another, to destroy Clarendon, harm the English church, reform the court etc. Chaloner is investigating. It all starts with the murder of Blue Dick, a well known iconoclast from the days of Cromwell and the commonwealth. He was extremely proud of the fact that he went around the country, smashing up churches where any trace of idolatry still existed. Chaloner sees him murdered on London Bridge. So, there are many suspects. Chaloner hears of lots of unusual and suspicious things happening on London Bridge, and the more he digs, the more confusing it all becomes. Once again, Gregory manages to seamlessly weave together so many plots, subplots, major characters, and minor characters. At times I was slightly confused, but I am now beginning to be used to her writing style.

[Michael Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second Susanna Gregory book, this time with detective Thomas Chaloner—to my mind a great improvement over her other one, Matthew Bartholomew. It’s 1664, the English monarchy has been restored to the throne (and is already proving unpopular for its lewdness and licentiousness), Catholicism is all but banned and there’s more than a whiff of gunpowder tainting the air.
This time Gregory has a wealth of historical characters and facts to work with, and her love of weaving them all into a plot is infectious. Seasoned Crimes & Thrillers’ readers will have clocked the object of that plot after the first few chapters but, hey-ho, it’s still a good read.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas Chaloner is crossing London Bridge when he sees a man murdered in front of him. His pursuit of the assassins leads him into a religious conspiracy that involves Catholics, Anglicans and Puritans, and may even involve the Royal Family.

This was an enjoyable mystery, set against the religious upheaval caused in Restoration England by the introduction of the Clarendon Code, legislation that punished any worship outside the established Church. The plot is full of twists and turns, with a generous dose of humour and some fascinating detail, particularly about the original London Bridge, the only bridge across the Thames at that time.

[Sarah Hearn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this on CD in the car which is why it took so long to get through but still, it was too long. I’m actually not that attracted to Thomas Chaloner and all his annoying colleagues and friends. I reached the point where I just wanted to know what was going on but found the ending confusing.

[Janet Kuchler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating

The hatred that exist between the various religious is amazing. How a belief in a loving God could be distorted for personal reasons explains why so many fled England for the New World.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one with lots of twists and turns!

Well done.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant Chaloner novel.

[Morris Levene · Rating 5 out of 5]

lot of fun to read

[Volare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another welcome addition to the series.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is about a series of events that occurred in February 1664 in London. The return of Charles II and restoration of the Church of England as the state religion had left many people unhappy, including the non-Anglican protestants, the Catholics and even some moderate Anglicans who were frustrated with the corruption of the restored government. Elements of each group were converging on London to cause civil unrest and start a rebellion. Thomas Chaloner, a detective a la James Bond of his time, is in the employ of the Earl of Clarendon, a important aristocrat in maintaining the restored government and primacy of the Church of England, becomes involved and races against time to literally defuse the bombs that threaten St. Pauls and other key targets in London.

Susanna Gregory is the pen name of Elizabeth Cruwys, who has experience in a coroner's office and academic training in history, including a PhD from Cambridge, and is a pretty good story teller to boot. I picked up this book seeking a 'smart' summer reading book that would teach me something, but would be mostly an entertaining read - and this filled the bill. The bright cover and the old etching of London Bridge captured my eye and the promise of a interesting period detective novel brought out my library card so that I could quickly dive in.

I think that it is OK to start this series in the middle as I have done. Prior knowledge of Thomas Chaloner would probably add to the story (and perhaps raise my rating to a 4th star), but I enjoyed the book on its own merits. The epilogue offers promise of another story to follow as a couple of the characters reveal themselves to not be consistent with what had been revealed in the final unraveling of the mystery. The plot of the story, like the plot of the rebellion was quite complex and involved at least 25 characters that had more than a passing contribution to the plot. I finally resorted to a cheat sheet to at least keep track of their names because they were sometimes referred to by their first names (in conversation) and sometimes their family names. My copy of the book was 450 pages long, so there was a satisfying amount of room for character and plot development, which takes a bit more time in historical fiction. I checked maps a couple of times to better understand how characters moved throughout the city.

Besides the central character, Thomas Chaloner, there are a couple of other great characters that I look forward to getting to know better as I read the other books in this series. Chaloner may be handsome, but he is certainly accomplished. His mistress can't cook well, so he prepares a pie for his employer. He is handy with weapons, especially a knife that he keeps tucked in his sleeve. He is sentimental, mourning the loss of a jug, which was his mom's, and a cracked mirror, which was his dead wife's, and his second best viola, which were lost when his run-down home eventually collapsed. He gets along with all sorts of people and mixes easily with prostitutes and beggars as well as surgeons, merchants, tavern keepers and members of the aristocracy as he gathers intelligence for his employer. Chaloner is fallible though, which makes the story more interesting because he sometimes gets into sticky situations and is not always sure of what will happen next. Other interesting characters include John Winter, who loves music and gunpowder and Surgeon Wiseman who dissects criminals to better understand how the body works and falls in love with a madam.

Great summer read!

[Shinjini · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a random library pick. The word murder in the title was enough to make me check it out but I was utterly disappointed with this book. And I didn't even have any such expectations from it!

I hadn't known that this book is the fifth in a series. Maybe if I had read the other books, I would have been able to understand and like this book better, but as it turned out, I really found this book over-complicated.

The plot had too many sub-plots and way too many characters vying for attention. Apparently some of the characters were historically accurate hence people who are familiar with them might feel more in tune with them.

I feel like there were some unnecessary details in almost every chapter which only led to an increase in the number of pages but not to the depth of the story-line.

Thomas Chaloner might be an accomplished spy but all his accomplishments failed to capture my heart and this book almost became the first book that I couldn't finish.

But I kept on and did finish it though it took me a few days too long to do so.

I am not going to be able to recommend this book to anyone but I do commend the author for being able to blend history and fiction together in the book.

[Vivienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an excellent series of historical spy thrillers. I found the first one a little hard to get into due to the level of detail but quickly got into Susanna Gregory's style and found I loved it This high degree of detail is accompanied by many characters and and a variety of sub-plots. Although there are a number of high profile historical figures the strength of the series is in its social history and the minor players taken from the ranks of civil servants, the working class and others.

In this outing poor Thomas once again is tasked with having to solve a number of mysteries for his demanding employer. Again it was interesting to find out who in the story actually lived and what events happened. As the title suggests here there is a lot about the history and urban legends of the time about London Bridge.

In a number of Goodreads reviews low ratings were given by readers who had jumped into the series with this book rather than starting with Book One A Conspiracy of Violence. Some series can work as stand-alone but for character development I always recommend starting at the beginning and here the density of detail and complexity of relationships I would underline that suggestion.

[Shirley Schwartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a big fan of Susanna Gregory's Matthew Bartholomew series since she began writing it, and so I began her Thomas Chaloner series as soon as it came out. These are different and set in a different time period, but they are equally as good. Chaloner is a spy in the Restoration era. There is so much subterfuge in these books it's hard to keep everything straight, but they are truly wonderful. The historical detail is accurate and Ms. Gregory's fictional characters seem as real as her many historical characters. This book begins in February 1664 and runs up to Shrove Tuesday. Chaloner is trying to track down a number of traitors and avoid a dangerous insurrection as he races against the clock. He does get lost in the actual numbers of suspects since it seems many are involved in some way in the plot. I loved the book and enjoyed trying to keep up with Thomas as he unravels one thread after another in the big scheme of things.

[Dianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

London in February 1664 is restless, rife with rumours. The Lord Chancellor Clarendon is unpopular, as is the dissolute Restoration court. The religious conflicts which played a part in the Civil War are still prevalent, while the Clarendon Code which regulates religious worship is deeply resented.

With this background Thomas Chaloner witnesses the murder of a former iconoclast Blue Dick on London Bridge. As spy for Clarendon he is set to investigate. The plot is complicatred. Most of the characters are known historical figures, but somehow the story does not seem to flow. Maybe this is a series one needs to read consecutively in order to follow the stories of the individual fictional characters. What is interesting is how many authors are using the religious tensions of the medieval period as a backdrop for there novels.

[Jacquelynn Fritz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for my book club otherwise its not a book I would have chosen to read. This is a murder mystery set in 1664 London. Thomas Chaloner works for the Earl of Clarendon who isn't popular because of his religious beliefs. Thomas must find a murderer, who raped a woman, and stop a rebellion. At times its hard to follow all the characters as there are so many. This book is based on fact and its hard to believe there was a time without religious freedom, which is the cause of the murder, rape and unrest. This book is part of a series and maybe if I had read the first one and knew the background of the characters, I would have liked this book more.

[Andrew Embling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas Chaloner saves the day in this excellent Restoration romp. Brilliantly written, with plenty of twists in the storyline, Chaloner has to take on religious fanatics and hunt the murder of an old iconoclast to prevent a plot of insurgency against the government and the crown.

The story and characters were well created and the narrative zipped along. A great read. Chaloner is up there with the likes of Shardlake (Sansom's great Tudor character) as a great, but unlikely hero and I can't wait to read the next instalment of Chaloner's adventures.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can’t fault Susanna Gregory’s work ethic, she churns out books at an extraordinary rate. Unfortunately, this speed can effect quality and in this book, I feel the quality of the series has slipped. Everything was rather dragged out at the expense of suspense and drama. Yes, I did enjoy the historical setting at an interesting period in English history. But, I found the plot contained too many coincidences to be believable. Oh! and lastly can someone explain to me how Chaloner keeps that dagger from falling out of his sleeve?

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

c2009: Oh dear. A mediocre read at best. Perhaps it is because I did not start at the beginning of the series so the characters did not flesh out as the story got going. Now third in a row of highly recommeded via blogging sites that gave them terrific write ups but turned out not to be worth the cost of reserving these from the library. Average plot. I found myself doing any but settling down to read this book - even house work was preferable. Sadly, not recommended at all.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion with this book the series returns to form. The grime and debauchery Gregory uses as her backdrop gives atmosphere and hooks the reader into Chaloner's London.

Chaloner is his usual silent, deadly self and anyone who's reached this stage of the series must love him for it. However, the introduction of Hannah as a major character in his life adds another layer which is quite welcome.

All round, very good and I will continue to read this series.

[Katrina Gonsalves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly good, for a random library book choice. I was a little confused at the beginning with the Puritans, Anglicans, and the Catholics. But lots of action and very little murder. There are too many other good books to read to actually recommend it.

[Virginia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is set in an interesting time in England's history; however, the plot was all over the place and I kept wondering why the protagonist didn't act on the information and clues he received. A bit of a disappointment really.

[Michael Grant · Rating 1 out of 5]

A colleague at work lent me this book so I was obliged to read it all. Boring and overlong. Didn't warm to the plot, the setting, the dialogue or any of the characters.
Unlikely to return this author again.

[Isabel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually I like the books in this series, but this one didn't grab me. I didn't really care what happened this time. Her descriptions of London are wonderful, though.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant book love historical novels

[Sarah Boyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the Bartholomew series, but very readable.

[Beverly · Rating 2 out of 5]

A "thriller" set in Restoration London.

[Jennifer Everard]

Love the Chaloner series. Can highly recommend them all. Right up my street.

[Adrian Yeow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Becoming a bit formulaic -- starting from various strands of a singular mystery to a peak of confusion before resolving in a series of rushed actions. Still enjoyable though.