Antonia Hodgson's debut novel combines aristocratic honor with a dark chapter of British history for an unforgettable start to a new mystery series.
In 1724, a Briton who got into debt ran the risk of landing in one of the brutal, disease-ridden debtor's prisons. When robbers deprive Tom Hawkins of the gambling winnings that would settle his debt, he is clapped in irons and dragged to the notorious Marshalsea Gaol. Destitute, Tom learns he must pay for his food and lodging if he wants to live in the cleaner, safer side of the prison; otherwise, he's bound for the Common side, where disease, starvation and violence run riot.
Tom accepts an offer of free rent from amoral, mischievous prisoner Samuel Fleet, only to learn Fleet's last roommate was murdered (possibly by Tom's new benefactor). A friend on the outside brokers a deal for Tom: solve the murder and go free. But in a microcosm of corruption and cruelty presided over by a warden known as the Butcher, Tom doesn't know where to begin pointing fingers or whom he can trust. As the bodies pile up, Tom must think quickly or he'll never leave the Marshalsea alive.
Fans of mystery and historic fiction will relish (and shudder at) this gruesomely detailed account of life in debtor's prison, and not just because of the flesh-hungry rats. The hypocrisy of a murder investigation in a facility whose conditions kill its prisoners isn't lost on honorable Tom, a believable, likable sleuth we hope to see again. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads