Catherine’s story is told almost entirely in the third person, which I thought rather a shame. She is the stronger and more ambiguous character, surprisingly modern in both outlook and reaction to adversity.

July: Third one-day international, The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton - England won by 69 runs Andrew Taylor (b. 1951) is a British author of mysteries. Born in East Anglia, he attended university at Cambridge before getting an MA in library sciences from University College London. His first novel, Caroline Miniscule (1982), a modern-day treasure hunt starring history student William Dougal, began an eight-book series and won Taylor wide critical acclaim. He has written several other thriller series, most notably the eight Lydmouthbooks, which begin with An Air That Kills (1994). If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month. Set in the immediate aftermath of the Great Fire of London in 1666, the central characters are James Marwood and Cat Lovett. The monarchy has just been restored after Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth and Charles II is looking for revenge over the 'Regicides', the people who had executed his father Charles I in 1649. Lovett's father is Regicide, while Marwood's is an old Cromwell supporter but who has dementia. Marwood is the better-drawn; everyman, trying to do right, trying to advance in the world while being unwillingly dragged into murder, plots and political secrets. He relates much of the always believable action in the first person and his gentle, sometimes frustrated, relationship with his dementia-affected father provides a touching counterpoint to the world of envy, self-seeking, debauchery, machinations and brutality in which he finds himself.

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The body of a murdered man is found in the ruins of St Pauls after the Great Fire. Minor civil servant James Marwood, son of a Protestant extremist, is dragged into treacherous waters where he crosses the path of a determined, but vengeful young woman. It’s a heavyweight piece and solid historical fiction, if perhaps not Taylor’s finest. The ending, although tying these events up in a perfectly satisfactory style, still felt slightly open, like a sequel might be in the offing. I really enjoyed this book and was fascinated by the politics and history of the period. I look forward to reading the sequel.His most recent books are historical novels as well as crime fiction. They explore different historical eras: Bleeding Heart Square, is set in the 1930s mainly in London (2008); The Anatomy of Ghosts (2010), set in eighteenth-century Cambridge; The Scent of Death, set in British New York, 1778–80; and its sequel, The Silent Boy (2014), during the French Revolution. The Ashes of London presents a breathtakingly ambitious picture of an era ... the multiple narrative strands are drawn together in a brilliantly orchestrated finale' Financial Times

Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial?Andrew Taylor has also written a number of novellas with ghostly or other-worldly themes, originally as Kindle Singles. The first three have now been published in print form under the title Fireside Gothic. As with most historical novels like this one there are real people, like William Chiffinch, scattered amongst the invented people. When the book is as well written as this one it’s difficult to remember who is real and who isn’t. Even if you've read Pepys on the Great Fire you don't get as vivid a portrait as Taylor gives in this novel. The heat, the winds, the burning embers, the almost spontaneous flaming and the fact that it went on for months after the main fire was subdued are all vividly portrayed in this novel, which is apparently the first in a series.