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The Ruffler's Child: Step into a gripping historical mystery from John Pilkington
Audio CD
Published December 17, 2025
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January 30, 2026
This is a fun historical adventure with a ruinous scandal, London thugs, and Thomas getting stabbed, slashed, beaten, kidnapped, choked, and beaten again. Thomas isn’t so much a character — as most of the characters are in this book — as he is an archetype. He’s a Good Man. He’s loyal, cares for his hawk, is in love with his lord’s wife … and sleeps with her. But only at her instigation. The book never delves into his emotions or deeper thoughts; it’s all surface level and focused on the mystery in front of him.
As the main character of a mystery series, he’s … fine. What really stood out were two things: The world building, which is absolutely solid. This isn’t a fantasy world without magic, and it’s not Brigerton. It’s a real, dirty, lived in place. The fashions, the morality, the social restrictions and — alas — the misogyny. The second part are the birds. Thomas is a falconer, and so there is a lot of attention given to the birds he takes care of; their color, their moods and tempers, and even their deaths.
And yes, there are animal deaths in this book as four hawks and one bear are killed. There’s a lot of violence, quite a few people die, and there are mentions of CSA as children are sold into sex work, and a pimp threatens to rape Thomas’s daughter. So if you’re sensitive to scenes or content of that nature, you may want to pass on this book.
It’s a quick, well written read and I do recommend it if you’re looking for something to fill that historical itch. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.
As the main character of a mystery series, he’s … fine. What really stood out were two things: The world building, which is absolutely solid. This isn’t a fantasy world without magic, and it’s not Brigerton. It’s a real, dirty, lived in place. The fashions, the morality, the social restrictions and — alas — the misogyny. The second part are the birds. Thomas is a falconer, and so there is a lot of attention given to the birds he takes care of; their color, their moods and tempers, and even their deaths.
And yes, there are animal deaths in this book as four hawks and one bear are killed. There’s a lot of violence, quite a few people die, and there are mentions of CSA as children are sold into sex work, and a pimp threatens to rape Thomas’s daughter. So if you’re sensitive to scenes or content of that nature, you may want to pass on this book.
It’s a quick, well written read and I do recommend it if you’re looking for something to fill that historical itch. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.
Displaying 1 of 1 review