The murder of a man in broad daylight on London Bridge is the
first indication that the Earl of Clarendon''s fears of a rebellion
against the newly restored monarchy may be well-founded. His spy,
Thomas Chaloner, suspects the assassin may be a member of a group
dedicated to seeing the return of Puritanism, and at the same time
he learns of a faction close to the King determined to bring back
the old ways of the Roman Catholic Church. He discovers, too, that
the killing on the Bridge is not the only assault committed there
recently and begins to decipher a link between the violence and the
people who manage the Bridge and its tottering, ramshackle
buildings. As he moves unobtrusively between White Hall, the
elegant mansions along the Strand, and the heaving congestion on
the only river crossing, he becomes aware of an undercurrent of
restlessness in the capital. And it soon becomes clear that the
groups he is investigating are planning some extraordinary climax
to achieve their separate aims on Shrove Tuesday, which gives him
very little time to identify the ring-leaders and thwart their
intentions.
關於作者:
Susanna Gregory is the
pseudonym of a Cambridge academic who was previously a coroner''s
officer. Her series of medieval mysteries have gained a formidable
following.