The Winter List by S.G. MacLean is a sequel to The Seeker which is set in London in 1654, a time when Oliver Cromwell has taken over and had King Charles I executed.
The Winter List begins in London 1660, the Cromwell era is over and King Charles II is on the throne. Many of those who had supported Cromwell are being hunted down and executed without a trial, there’s a list of regicides who it’s believed had been instrumental in the execution of the king, and Lady Anne Winter, a Royalist spy has been tasked with discovering the innocence or guilt of the suspects.
She travels to York with her Scottish assistant Grizel, she doubles as Lady Anne’s servant but in reality Grizel is good at codebreaking, it’s a very handy talent to have. Manon is the daughter of Damian Seeker and is now married and settled in York with her husband and children. They’re terrified of being accused of being Republicans. Seeker is on the list, he terrified people in Cromwell’s times and the Royalists want to get their own back. Manon’s husband is under suspicion, Lady Anne arranges for Grizel to get work within the heavily pregnant Manon’s household, but that is the least of their problems.
I really liked this one, but I have jumped ahead in the series and will really have to go back and read the others.
You went from book 1 to book 6! These books look hard to find so perhaps that is why. I remember being intrigued by your review of The Seeker but no library in my state owned it so I figured I had enough books to read (ha). But now you have caught my interest again so I might have to figure out where to get a copy.
How is the baby? How often can you get to see them?
Constance,
I didn’t realise that it was number 6 until I finished reading it, but the story followed on from the first one, so the other four must veer off to pastures new I suppose. I expected to be able to borrow all of her books from the library as S.G. MacLean is Scottish, but this one is the only book they have in their catalogue, they must have sold the others off! I’m so annoyed as I saw loads of her books in a charity shop a few weeks ago but didn’t buy any.
All is well with Imogen and family. We aim to see them once a week or so, but that isn’t always possible, but we have video calls and with the lighter nights and better weather (hopefully) we’ll see them more frequently.