The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor was published in 2016 and it begins during the Great Fire of London. Between 300 and 400,000 people lived in London at the time and as so much of the city burned down people don’t have homes or even any possessions, the refugees are the lucky ones really as they’ve survived, but none of them is unscathed.

There are bodies all over the place, some of them hundreds of years old as the crypts of the many burnt out churches are visible, in fact people are turning up to gawp at bodies of once famous people, well what’s left of them anyway. However when fresh bodies begin to turn up and they’ve had their thumbs tied together behind their backs it’s obvious that there’s a murderer about.

It’s only six years after the restoration of King Charles II to the throne and he’s determined to track down the people who were instrumental in having his father executed, so this book turns into a bit of a political thriller as well as being a murder mystery.

Andrew Taylor is really good at developing what feels like an authentic atmosphere of London, and its characters of those times.

As ever my thoughts on this book are on the scanty side for fear of spoilers but if you want to read a much more detailed review have a look at Margaret’s @ BooksPlease.