Military machinations come under the watchful eye of Restoration spy Thomas Chaloner in Susanna Gregory’s latest murder mystery.

Chaloner suspects that the sinking of the Navy’s flagship was more than accident or a simple act of sabotage.

As England faces war with the Dutch he discovers a conspiracy that reaches high into government and royal circles.

Nothing new for Chaloner, as he again courts unpopularity, poverty and death in order to uncover the truth.

The agent is also looking into the murder of Paul Ferine, a Groom of the Robes, in a brothel run by one of his friends.

This is in addition to Chaloner’s official investigation, to find the leaders of an alleged terrorist group known as the Fifth Monarchists.

It’s no surprise that everything is linked, in an engrossing and convoluted story that ends – as usual for the put-upon spy – with a lot of dead bodies.

David Knights