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A review by tasmanian_bibliophile
The Butcher of Smithfield by Susanna Gregory
4.0
‘He died of eating cucumbers.’
London, 1663. It is summer, and Thomas Chaloner has recently returned to London after a mission to Portugal and Spain. He may have only been away for four months, but a lot has changed. A tax has been introduced on printed newssheets which has led to the growth of handwritten pamphlets.
There are two main producers of these pamphlets, and there is intense rivalry between them to be the first to disseminate any sort of news. This rivalry is the talk of the coffee houses. Robert l’Estrange has been appointed to censor the newssheets, but he is a hypocrite who also profits by disseminating the news.
Thomas Chaloner learns that his friend Thomas Maylord, a musician, has died, apparently from eating green cucumbers. Thomas reports to his employer, the Earl of Clarendon, who orders him to investigate the strange death of one of l’Estrange’s lackeys, a solicitor named Newburne, who died after eating some green cucumber.
And so the search for truth begins. While some physicians claim that eating green cucumbers is dangerous, surely the death of two men within days of each other cannot be a coincidence. Are there links between Maylord and Newburne ? What role might l’Estrange have to play in this?
‘I am beset by phanatiques on all sides and music is the only thing that gives me the resolve to do battle with them.’
It seems that Newburne had ties to the mysterious ‘Butcher of Smithfield’, whose thugs control the area around the Smithfield market. Thomas Chaloner doesn’t believe that the deaths have been caused by the ingestion of cucumbers, but in order to prove his theory he needs to try to discover the real identity of the Butcher of Smithfield as well as try to find out how the news makes its way into the handwritten pamphlets. There will be more victims, and Thomas Chaloner needs to be careful he doesn’t become one of them.
‘Poor Finch. Another victim of the wicked curse of the cucumber.’
There are several different strands to this story and, while they are all brought together by the end of the book, it takes concentration to keep track of them. There are many characters as well, including a number of historical figures.
I enjoyed this novel, especially as it took me a while to work out who the Butcher of Smithfield was. Now I need to track down a copy of the next book.
This is the third novel in Ms Gregory’s Thomas Chaloner mystery series set in Restoration England. Thirteen novels have been published so far.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
London, 1663. It is summer, and Thomas Chaloner has recently returned to London after a mission to Portugal and Spain. He may have only been away for four months, but a lot has changed. A tax has been introduced on printed newssheets which has led to the growth of handwritten pamphlets.
There are two main producers of these pamphlets, and there is intense rivalry between them to be the first to disseminate any sort of news. This rivalry is the talk of the coffee houses. Robert l’Estrange has been appointed to censor the newssheets, but he is a hypocrite who also profits by disseminating the news.
Thomas Chaloner learns that his friend Thomas Maylord, a musician, has died, apparently from eating green cucumbers. Thomas reports to his employer, the Earl of Clarendon, who orders him to investigate the strange death of one of l’Estrange’s lackeys, a solicitor named Newburne, who died after eating some green cucumber.
And so the search for truth begins. While some physicians claim that eating green cucumbers is dangerous, surely the death of two men within days of each other cannot be a coincidence. Are there links between Maylord and Newburne ? What role might l’Estrange have to play in this?
‘I am beset by phanatiques on all sides and music is the only thing that gives me the resolve to do battle with them.’
It seems that Newburne had ties to the mysterious ‘Butcher of Smithfield’, whose thugs control the area around the Smithfield market. Thomas Chaloner doesn’t believe that the deaths have been caused by the ingestion of cucumbers, but in order to prove his theory he needs to try to discover the real identity of the Butcher of Smithfield as well as try to find out how the news makes its way into the handwritten pamphlets. There will be more victims, and Thomas Chaloner needs to be careful he doesn’t become one of them.
‘Poor Finch. Another victim of the wicked curse of the cucumber.’
There are several different strands to this story and, while they are all brought together by the end of the book, it takes concentration to keep track of them. There are many characters as well, including a number of historical figures.
I enjoyed this novel, especially as it took me a while to work out who the Butcher of Smithfield was. Now I need to track down a copy of the next book.
This is the third novel in Ms Gregory’s Thomas Chaloner mystery series set in Restoration England. Thirteen novels have been published so far.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith