The Clerkenwell Affair

 

The fourteenth Thomas Chaloner Adventure

In the spring of 1666 everyone’s first reaction to a sudden death at the place 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, and rival courtiers have made no secret of their wish to succeed to those offices.  To Thomas Chaloner, ordered to undertake the investigation, this gives a whole host of suspects an ample motive for murder.

Chaloner finds the city abuzz with talk of a Clerkenwell soothsayers’ dire predictions that a rain of fire will destroy the capital on Good Friday.  He 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…

Set in the lead-up to the Great Fire of London, the latest Thomas Chaloner adventure sees Susanna Gregory combine her meticulous research and exuberant story-telling.