Visit the locations in the novel

Soot, debauchery and talk of changelings .... a journey back in time to 1667 London grab you? It should as it's fine fine fine!

Have a wet wipe to hand when you read this book as you’ll need to wipe yourself clean from all the stench and soot of London to come from its pages. I haven’t felt so immersed and in need of a wash after reading a novel in a long time and I mean that as a lovely complement! London is the den of debauchery and even those not in the opium dens or the whorehouses have to trudge the gritty, dirty streets to try and make a living, if not even just to survive.

Now that’s not all. This novel is the fourth in a series but I haven’t read the others and I didn’t feel I was missing out until the end of the book when I wondered why I hadn’t read the rest of this heart-pumping series. The theatre world was just fascinating and jaw-dropping both in detail and fantasy. There were threads of a magical and supernatural presence, which, for me, took the novel to an even better place. These illegal theatres just gave me a thrill reading about them and stepping inside, experiencing a world that the author has crafted with care and a mean glint in her eye.

If you love historical fiction, you’ll get goosebumps. If you don’t, you’ll get goosebumps and a new genre to get stuck into. The changeling murders is fascinating, wonderfully evoked and I haven’t even touched upon the changelings themselves…the fairy folk….now that really is something you have to discover for yourself, or is it that they will discover you?

One thing I have started reading is historical thrillers. So when I was offered a chance of review this book, I jumped at it.
Whilst I had not read any others in the Thief Takers series, I quickly got into the story. Charlie Tuesday is on the hunt for “The Lord and Lady”, to save his lost love. The downtrodden are in uproar over the new king and bodies are turning up.
Charlie Tuesday was a loveable rogue and would put himself in danger to save others. Being brought up an orphan he had a soft spot for the down trodden and would use his talent of finding things to help others worse off than him.
Set in London in the Stuart period, this book was well researched and as you follow Charlie on his quest, the descriptive style of the author brings the sights and smells to life and showed just how much of a hard life the poor had.
This story was non stop and kept me turning the pages as I wanted to know what would happen to Charlie. It was like you were following him on the treasure, following the clues to get closer to the goal . Whilst some of the escapes seemed a bit unreal, there was always an explanation on how he made his escape. As there were others looking for the lord and lady, the story does not just revolve around Charlie. Each character had their own story to tell and one of my favourite characters Lily Boswell, a gypsy pirate who took no messing and stood up for what she believed.
The story had a fantasy feel to it, as the belief of fairies was still strong amongst the population. The fairy story running throughout, had me doubting Tom Black’s sanity and what mother’s did to the changeling babies was quite harrowing.
This can be read as a stand alone read, as the story was well explained and I will go back and read the others in the series. A page turner