The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor
Tense historical fiction set during the Great Fire of London, 1666
One of the first things that struck me as I read the opening pages of this novel was the detail. Not the research-dump list of era-specific clothes or locations that sometimes spoil a historical novel, but the description of sights, sounds and smells that made me feel like I was there. I was mesmerised by the burning of St Paul’s cathedral just as main character James Marwood was, and I could practically feel the heat rolling off it in waves. What a way to begin.
The Ashes of London is the first of Andrew Taylor’s series about James Marwood and Cat Lovett; there are six books so far. Although Marwood and Lovett’s paths cross several times during this book they remain largely separate strands. From the synopsis of book 2, The Fire Court, it looks like they join forces in the sequel.
The year is 1666, a few years after the monarchy has been restored, and England is politically uneasy. The fervent followers of Oliver Cromwell might be keeping their heads down but they haven’t gone away, and King Charles II is keeping tabs on them. When a body turns up in the wreckage of the cathedral with a stab wound, and its thumbs tied behind its back, the king’s spy masters take an interest.
Although the novel revolves around murder, this is not by any means a conventional crime thriller. There is no police force in Restoration London. People die violent deaths in the capital every day. It’s not so much that the powers that be want a killer brought to justice, it’s that they fear political motives.
The politics is the dangerous element, not the murder itself. That wrong-footed me a couple of times, because my expectations of the outcome did not match the expectations of the characters, simply because we were working in different contexts. Not every suspicious or violent death is of interest to the investigation, and it is possible to get away with murder if you’re not a person of political interest.
The extra layer of tension comes from Marwood being the son of a traitor not long out of prison. The Marwoods’ position is precarious and they could both lose everything, including their lives, at the whim of the king. James Marwood can’t say no when he’s drawn into the investigation, no matter how wary he is.
Having had a period of reading very slowly, I rattled through this novel in a few days. The setting was vividly conjured, the political context was well laid-out and the characters were well-rounded. You may well enjoy it if you’ve enjoyed any of CJ Sansom’s Shardlake novels.