Fire

John Grey Historical Mystery #4

by L.C. Tyler

The fourth John Grey historical mystery1666. London has been destroyed by fire and its citizens are looking for somebody, preferable foreign, to blame. Only the royal Court, with its strong Catholic sympathies, is trying to dampen down the post-conflaguration hysteria. Then, inconveniently, a Frenchman admits to having started it together with an accomplice, whom he says he has subsequently killed.John Grey is tasked by Secretary of State, Lord Arlington, with proving conclusively that the self-confessed fire-raiser is lying. Though Grey agrees with Arlington that the Frenchman must be mad, he is increasingly perplexed at how much he knows. And a body has been discovered that appears in every way to match the description of the dead accomplice.Grey's investigations take him and his companion, Lady Pole, into the dangerous and still smoking ruins of the old City. And somebody out there - somebody at the very centre of power in England - would prefer it if they didn't live long enough to conclude their work...Praise for L.C. Tyler'Tyler juggles his characters, story wit and clever one liners with perfect balance' The Times'A cracking pace, lively dialogue, wickedly witty one-liners salted with sophistication . . . Why would we not want more of John Grey?' The Bookbag'A dizzying whirl of plot and counterplot' Guardian'I was seduced from John Grey's first scene' Ann Cleeves'Unusually accomplished' Helen Dunmore'Literate, witty, and huge fun' Irish Independent

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

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 2, 2017

About the author

L. C. Tyler grew up in Essex and studied geography at Jesus College Oxford University and systems analysis at City University in London. During a career with the British Council he lived in Malaysia, Sudan, Thailand and Denmark. More recently he has been based in Islington and West Sussex and is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, of which he was previously Chief Executive. He is married and has two children and one dog.

Series:
* Elsie and Ethelred Mystery
* John Grey Historical Mystery

Reviews

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful historical mystery is the 4th volume of the very enjoyable and exciting "John Grey" series.
Storytelling is again of a superb quality, the characters, whether they are real great historical or wonderful fictional ones, come all splendidly to life within this amazing mystery.
This 4th episode is also once more written in a very witty fashion and with a humorous twist, and all these factors make this book such an eventful spellbound read from beginning till the end.
The tale is now set in the year, AD 1666, during the reign of King Charles II, and it's the year of the great "Fire" that will destroy and devastate great parts of the City of London, and in this environment John Grey will start to do his investigations.
The story itself really starts off when our main character the righteous and somewhat naïve but successful lawyer, John Grey, is tasked by the Secretary of State, Lord Arlington, to prove conclusively that a Frenchman , a Huguenot called, Hubert, who admits starting the "Fire", that this man is lying, in a London full of people who are anti-foreigners and anti-Catholics.
Both Grey and Arlington agree that this, Hubert, is mad, although he seems to know very much about the "Fire", and when a body is found that match the description of the dead accomplice, from then on everything will turn from bad to worse for John Grey because from the very centre of power in England there's someone who will try anything to stop him and Lady Pole to find out who the real leader behind this crime really is.
What follows is a dangerous game of life and death for Lady Pole and especially John Grey in their quest to unveil this secret, but John Grey also knows that he must persevere in his investigations if he wants to reveal the leader of this gang, and after some twists and turns and an exciting plot, the outcome is very surprising indeed.
Highly recommended, for this is another very exciting and enjoyable mystery in which John Grey as a lawyer and L.C. Tyler as an author excel again, and that's why I like to call this book: "Another Astonishing Playful Historical Mystery"!

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that the previous novel, The Plague Road, was superb and I'm delighted to say that Fire is every bit as good. So witty! What a fantastic series!

[Puzzle Doctor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent historical mystery balancing humour and darkness perfectly. Full review at classicmystery.wordpress.com

[Martin Pilkington · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fourth book in the John Grey series of novels set in England in the 1660s. This book centres itself around the fire of London. How did it start, accidental or was it a deliberate act by others, the French, say?

The author meshes real people with his own inventions, such as the lead character. The events are largely real too, with the actions of John Grey melded into them.

These are interesting books mixing humour with a large dollop of cynicism,or do I mean reality? Read it and decide for yourselves.

[Own Timis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another interesting story in the John Grey series. It captures well London in the aftermath of the Great Fire with atmospheric descriptions. I read 1666 by Rebecca Rideal not long prior to this, so it was interesting to see the reality transposed into fiction.

4*s because I thought the plot was a bit transparent and I worked out the outcome long before the end. Though I'm not sure if I was supposed to.

I'll be reading the next one in the series.

[Trish G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although based on fact, the political treachery & numerous conversations that parry like a sword fight left me somewhat confused. Perhaps Tyler’s intentions are to create a dramatic backdrop & charge the reader to indulge in a bit of research to seek out some truths. Witty repartee made me read through to the end of the book.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst an enjoyable bit of intrigue set in the aftermath of the Great Fire, it was frustrating that our narrator, the super spy, was so dense. The real mastermind behind the plot was so glaringly obvious almost as soon as they appeared. Our clueless sleuth leapt to the wrong conclusion far too often, slightly undermining his credibility...

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of L.C Tyler and this is my favourite John Grey book in this series so far. Lots of research has gone into the back story. Nice acknowledgement to the fire fighters of London at the end. I look forward to more.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is better than #1. Not so sure about the cliff-hanger ending though.

[Natasha Maddock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story. Loved the historical element to it.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Len Tyler's Herring books, and thought it was about time I gave one of his John Grey mysteries a go. This one is the fourth in the series, and I really enjoyed it - it's a thoroughly entertaining historical story, but set against a huge amount of historical fact. I never knew, for example, that a man named Robert Hubert confessed to and was hanged for starting the 1666 fire, although it is generally accepted - as indeed it was at the time by, amongst others, the Lord Chief Justice - that he was innocent and a little mad.

I thought John Grey was an interesting character, the lawyer who also does a bit of spying on the side (Matthew Shardlake, anyone?). He's a witty man and there are many great one-liners from him and other characters throughout the book. There were times when he and his childhood friend, Aminta, reminded me of Ethelred and Elsie from the Herring books. And his faithful clerk, Will, had a touch of the Jeeves about him.

Great fun and I really liked the characters. I'm going to read another one soon.

[Tim Chesterton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, a hugely interesting and entertaining read. And I noticed for the first time what a fine descriptive writer L.C. Tyler is. Here's an example.

'We too take stock of our position. My feet are firmly planted in the warm ashes of the City. I can sense the heat even through the soles of my boots. In places, smoke still climbs in thin, white rivulets. The view flickers and writhes as the heat escapes bit by bit from the charred clay on which this lost London was built. Close to where we are standing are the sad remains of what was once a church. The broken flint walls and the stone tower are caked in black soot. All over the road in front of it is a thin covering of what looks like parchment, but which I know to be melted glass from the windows. There has been no roof on this building since the early hours of Monday morning, and I doubt there will ever be one again. Most of the delicate tracery of the windows has gone with its glass, but a few thin strands of stone remain in place, like dead winter branches.'

But if I hadn't already looked ahead to check out the plot summary of the next book in the series, I might have been a tad frustrated at the cliffhanger ending...!!!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Dawn broke, just before midnight and much too far to the south.”
So begins John Grey’s next inglorious adventure. The ready wit and nimble turns of phrase of L. C. Tyler never fail to delight me. Think: Simon Brett meets Alan Bradley, with a sprinkle of Terry Pratchett, in a C. J. Sansom novel, and you’ll begin to have some idea what sort of ride you’re in for.