A Ruinous Wind

by John Pilkington

Get hold of the second adventure in this gripping Elizabethan mystery series from John Pilkington!🩸🔍 'Thomas proves a dogged, creative and insightful sleuth.’ - Publishers Weekly

MURDER MOST SAVAGE…

When invited to attend the Barrowhill Pleasures at the seat of the extravagant and pompous Earl of Reigate, Sir Robert Vicary of Petbury brings Thomas, his trusted falconer along with him to enjoy the festivities.

But things take a very deadly turn when three of the Earl’s guests are murdered, and the Earl seems eager to cover the deaths up at all costs. With the promise of Queen Elizabeth attending the spectacle, the Earl remains adamant that his dramatic re-enactment of the Spanish Armada should still go ahead - despite the tide of unpleasantness.

As the festivities continue, a killer is on the loose, and Thomas must keep a keen eye on the guests. One of them is not what they seem, and he must discern who before the Earl himself becomes the next target.

Perfect for fans of C. J. Sansom, Andrew Taylor and S. J. Parris.

Praise for the Thomas the Falconer

‘Larger-than-life characters and authentic 16th-century ambience… Pilkington successfully draws readers into his world and keeps them turning the pages.’ - Booklist

'The story moves at a great pace ... it made a welcome change to discover Elizabethan England through the eyes of a lesser mortal.' - The Historical Novels Review

‘A sturdy and entertaining historical for fans of Elizabethan mysteries’ Library Journal

‘This latest entry in Pilkington’s Thomas the Falconer series is a vigorous adventure featuring a likeable hero, an intriguing plot and a fine sense of period ambience.’ Booklist

Praise for A Ruinous

'Excellent! This is an extremely readable tale, with interesting well realised characters and history so well drawn it is as if you are there' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review

'Book 2 in this excellent series. The author writes very cleverly with humour and the descriptive prose transports the reader to the Elizabethan period.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review

'Great plot, characters, historical fact. Enjoyed every one of these books!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review

'Pilkington has a way of making you think you know what's about to happen only for the story to take a turn in a direction I wasn't expecting.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review

'Simply brilliant!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review

282 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 17, 2025

Reviews

[eyes.2c · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another exciting Thomas the Falconer read

[Verity Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

More period action

The good: more period-specific activity. The at-home uncertainties surrounding the Spanish Armada feel very realistic.

The bad: no clues pointing to the culprit. I dislike mysteries where the reader has no chance of predicting the identity of the murderer.

I'm giving this three and a half stars, rounded up to four.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed it. The plot wasn’t twisty and fantastic like some other the other thrillers that I like. This plot was quite basic. But the writing was nice, the setting was nice etc. Set on a country mansion estate, a falconer tries to solve a string of murders. I liked how the falconer wasn’t playing detective as much as his master just asked him to go explore a few leads and he worked alongside the guy who had been bought in to do the investigating.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, but I'm sure it is not book 2 in the series. I think it is further on than that.

[Sue Dillard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good story about a good guy

Several good guys, actually, and a seriously hard to solve murder mystery. I’ve enjoyed the first two falconer books, and look forward to the rest of them..