The Clerkenwell Affair

Thomas Chaloner #14

by Susanna Gregory

In the spring of 1666 everyone's first reaction to a sudden death at the palace of White Hall is that the plague has struck, but the killing of Thomas Chiffinch was by design, not disease. Chiffinch was holder of two influential posts - Keeper of the Closet and Keeper of the Jewels - and rival courtiers have made no secret of their wish to succeed to those offices. To Thomas Chaloner, ordered to undertake the investigation, such avarice gives a whole host of suspects an ample motive for murder.The same courtiers are at the heart of the royal entourage endorsing the King's licentious and ribald way of life, and Chaloner has some sympathy with the atmosphere of outrage and disgust at such behaviour. London's citizens, already irked by the wealthy fleeing to the country at the outbreak of the plague, have scant patience with the Court on its return. The city is abuzz with rumours of dissent and rebellion, fuelled by predictions from a soothsayer in Clerkenwell of a rain of fire destroying the capital on Good Friday.Chaloner initially dismisses such talk as nonsense, but as he uncovers ever more connections to Clerkenwell among his suspects, he begins to fear that there is also design behind the rumours - and that, come Easter Day, the King and his Court might find themselves the focus of yet another rebellion.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical

383 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2020

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 5 out of 5]

This marvellous historical adventure is the 14th volume of the magnificent "Thomas Chaloner" series, from the author, Susanna Gregory.

Historical details concerning this superb tale are very well researched and documented at the back of the book within the Historical Note.

Story-telling is of a sublime quality, all characters, whether they are real historical or wonderful fictional, come vividly to life within this great story, and the surroundings and atmosphere in London during the reign of King Charles II come wonderfully off the pages.

The book starts off with a short intriguing prologue, featuring the courtier, Thomas Chiffinch, at the Palace of White Hall in London on the 1 April, AD 1666, and this will form the basis for the main story to come.

The main story sets off at Piccadilly, London, on the 6th April, AD1666, when the aforementioned courtier, Thomas Chiffinch, is found murdered at a place belonging to the Cockpit Club.

Several leads of evidence will bring suspects to the forefront whether they are members of the Cockpit Club, or belonging to Newcastle House, with the Duke and Duchess at their head, or other courtiers who hated Thomas Chiffinch enough to see him dead, but what is certain is that the solution to this crime will lead Thomas Chaloner and his former counterpart, now friend, Spymaster Williamson's assassin, Swaddell, to a part of London called, Clerkenwell.

What is to follow is a very intriguing and thrilling historical adventure, where more murders will occur, especially to members of the Cockpit Club and friends, with the likes of Tooley, Ashley, Mushey and Pamphlin, in order to get rid of certain human problems, and its a story where spying, personal and political intrigue, backstabbing, survival and superstition, being Easter Week and with Friday 13th April AD 1666 in it, and all these factors will play a very dangerous and vital role in Thomas Chaloner's investigations to reveal the surprising mastermind(s) behind the poison murders and other crimes, and so to be able to do this he needs to be vigilant and determined when the time comes to stop various culprit(s) and save London from a deadly disaster.

Highly recommended, for this is another excellent addition to this great series, and because of that I want to call this episode: "Another Terrific Thomas Chaloner Adventure"!

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do think these books get a bit tedious in that all the foundation facts about characters get repeated throughout each book as if it's the first - I get it makes it quite accessible to readers who just randomly pick it up but it's the fourteenth one by now. I do like when a book gently prods to previous books and characters but it's better to more subtly allude or have it in dialogue or something instead of just paragraphs explaining stuff we knew about in the first book. And Chaloner's spying always ends up the same way in every book - every single character he quizzes tells him the same facts, which is more realistic but quite tedious as a reader. And the whodunnit can usually be narrowed down to a few suspects quite quickly once you realise that the guilty party invariably has certain characteristics in every single book. i.e. it's always the nice ones! Ever since the Butcher of Smithfield, twists have ended up the opposite of that because I can predict it's going to be one of the characters Chaloner is more fond of, and I'm usually the last one to work these things out. But despite all that, I like Tom as a character and I do like the books. I just think they could be shorter by shaving off some of the repetitive information that we're already overfamiliar with after fourteen of them.

[Balthazar Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The is the 14th book in the Thomas Chaloner series and the first I've read. So it's always interesting to find out if one needs to have read any previous books in the series. The answer is no as I felt no need to have known anything that happened in any previous book. However, I will go back to read more in the series as I enjoyed this.

At it's heart this is a murder mystery set in 1666 London, before the Great Fire of London, which happens later in the year. The previous year the city had been ravaged by plague. Easter is approaching and as Good Friday is on Friday the 13th, and there is a '666' in the year, people are fearful of impending doom, predicted by a soothsayer from Clerkenwell.

Thomas Chaloner is a Gentleman Usher for the Earl of Clarendon and is tasked to find out who is responsible for the murder of Thomas Chiffinch, a courtier and King's Favourite. Many suspect that the earl may have had a hand in the death and it is up to Chaloner to prove otherwise.

An interesting setting, though a bit slow in places, but worth reading.

[Stuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a slow story. I feel I did not really get to know the dead courtier at the start (unless he was a major character in earlier stories that I did not read) so I did not care what happened to him or by whom. Even the map (and I am a great believer in maps in a story) appear to show central London with huge open spaces until you came to the Thames and there was nothing in the story that suggested otherwise. Finally there were just so many potential murderers that I could not get to grips with them. I am not even sure if the 'hero' Chaloner was young or old from this episode. Maybe it is necessary to read all the stories to build up a picture of the times and characters but I am not tempted to pick up another one in this series... though I have enjoyed one or two from the Bartholomew series by the same author. Finally as it was 1666 I was waiting for the Great Fire to break out. The fire that did eventually appear was a bit of a damp squid. I guess it was kept for the next episode.

[Jack Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chaloner at his best

Excellent tale! I especially liked the fleshing out of Swaddel he is turned from a ghoulish murder into a real person, complete with all the failings of being human. I highly recommend this book great fun.

[Sarah Hearn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the storyline although since I’ve only read one other, I was a bit lost. For the length though, there wasn’t enough description of the London Chaloner was working in, or of the clothes, food, etc., extant at the time. A map would have been useful.

[Nicola Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very good adventure, with lots of twists as usual.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

These books get sillier and sillier.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good read from Susanna Gregory.

[Helen Marsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good story, plenty of twists and good historical background

[Dale Earp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed , took long enough reading it!!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great mystery. Kept me glued to the pages!

[Laura Bazalgette Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book, a nice mix of fiction and real life history. It is a little too long though, but the ending is very good.

[Rachel Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

clever

[Sadie Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I enjoyed this thriller. Who was the killer? Surprise ending.

[Hannah S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid 3.5 stars. I do enjoy the books on the whole but I feel they like the charm of the Matthew Bartholomew books. I still find it difficult to warm to Chaloner, fourteen books in. However I really enjoyed the development of Swaddell's character - it was nice to see a member of the supporting cast being a bit more fleshed out. As always, the story was engaging if a little overblown towards the end. A nice addition to the series.

[wanderlustlost · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. The one and only time this author has included queer women, and they’re the bad guys. This author has a tendency to write about gay men in a homophobic way. She’s always describing them as mincing, flouncing, etc. often they end up being the bad guys too, but not always. But this is the first time a lesbian relationship has ever featured in one of this author’s books and she makes them the bad guys. Not just the bad guys but like they fit the angry militant feminist lesbian trope perpetuated by Rush Limbaugh and that ilk.

Also, not being funny, but this author is supposed to be a historian. She writes historical fiction for a living. You’d think that an author of historical fiction would know that a buttery is actually a corruption of bottlery, that is, where the wine and ale is kept (and a butler is the man who serves it), and not a place where butter is made, which is properly called a dairy, or where dairy products are stored which would be a pantry or larder. This isn’t the only book where she mistakenly describes the buttery as the place butter is made.