I loved the sound of this book. I’m not usually a fan of historical books set in this era, but I love stories of London and its historical events, and you can’t get more historical than the Great Fire of London. I wanted to be drawn into this story, captivated by the murder and engulfed by the flames of the Great Fire. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite pan out like this. The story about London and its landmarks were well researched and interesting, but I felt that the Great Fire got off a bit lightly! The fire was one of the biggest things to have happened to London…ever, and yet it seemed to be ignored for the main part. The story also took a long time to get going and by the time it did, I had lost interest a little.

I had such high hopes for this book, and whilst it had its good parts, it also had parts that left me feeling frustrated!

I wanted to love this, I really did. Murder and mayhem in 17th century England? What's not to love?

Sadly, the execution didn't live up to the promise. This was turgid and difficult to wade through. Despite mention of the fire, Andrew Taylor failed to evoke any sense of the period. The characters were one dimensional and the plot failed to engage. I wanted to be swept up in an exciting reimagining of the past. Unfortunately, I wasn't.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC with no obligation.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Not the sort of book I normally read but I actually enjoyed it but admit I read it in between others

An amazingly interesting book! I was unsure at the beginning but was quickly pulled into the twists and turns of this part historical fiction part crime thriller. If any doubt give it a try, you won’t be disappointed!

It is very rare that I am unable to finish a book. I love Rutherford, and was really looking forward to reading this, but I was quite disappointed. I got most of the way through, but realised I was only reading it for sheer bloody-mindedness to get it finished, so I gave up at that point.

The storyline is around a murder at the time of the Great Fire of London. The characters are lacklustre and, somewhat disappointingly, it skirts around the fire without making it a central feature.

I was sent a copy of this from the publisher along with the upcoming publication of book two in the series. As usual this is my independent honest review.
I was excited about the premise of this book and the chance to read something around the Great Fire of London.
I found the beginning really interesting. You could imagine the scenes, the taste and smell of the fire and the panic it provoked. However as I continued the writing style made the plot feel a little mundane and drawn out. I have to be honest in saying that once I put the book down, I wasn't invested enough to rush to continue.
Glad I finished though as the ending is really good, A book you really try for yourself. Many people have loved it but for just ok for me.

This book started off really well but after a while I just felt that it plodded on and became slightly unrealistic

I have the sequel to read next I’m hoping it livens up a bit

Quite liked this - set at the time of the Great Fire of London, it follows the fortunes (?) of several interesting characters in the aftermath.

I felt that some sections moved very slowly, and some of the events that happened would surely have given rise to more trouble than they apparently did (eg some of Cat's exploits).

However, all in all an enjoyable read and I've now moved on to the next in the series...

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for my honest review.

An odd murder mystery in Old St Paul’s Cathedral

James Marwood worked for Master Williamson, the under-secretary for Lord Arlington at Scotland Yard. There was no uniformed police constable until the 19th Century.

In 1666 or the seventh year of Charles II’s reign, London was the 3rd largest city in the Old World after Paris and Constantinople. London was the very wealthy city with merchants and Whitehall, the central political power.

Then something in the oven at the baker’s shop in Pudding Lane sparked the Great Fire of London.

A woman told Marwood that there was someone being trapped by the fire at St Paul’s Cathedral, which collapsed. Someone was missing from Cat’s family’s household until the body was found murdered in the ruin of St Paul’s Cathedral.

Poor London suffered the plague in the previous year and then the Great Fire. It was very hot in September 1666 with black snow (ash) smothering the city.

I recommend this good historical detective novel.

Caesar 13

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

I had mixed feelings about this book. It was very well written with great descriptions of life in London in 1666. Both the main characters James Marwood and Cat were brought to life when they were trying to resolve the murder with all the additional sinister events that occur. It was very well researched describing lots of historical events to add interest. Personally I felt that it was too drawn out though.

This is a wonderful invocation of London at the time of the Great Fire; you can almost hear the crackling of the flames and see buildings turning to ash. There is complex plotting and compelling characters to keep you reading Looking forward to the sequel.

Very enjoyable novel during the Great Fire of London, Full of mystery and suspense, asJames Marwood, is tasked to find the killer of a body found in the ashes of St. Pauls Cathedral., Lots of intrigue and historical detail, Read this book for the nice prose, and fascinating and vivid period detail, The plot unfolds slowly, but is all the better for that as you get to know the characters.

An excellent and unusual historical thriller. The two main characters come together right at the start, in a seemingly random way. They are linked by a grey cloak which weaves its way through their stories, as London reels in the aftermath of the Great Fire, and their coming together again at the end is a great resolution, with Cat using her abilities to help the rebuilding of the City, and Marwood having the favour of the king. This is a good read and I’m looking forward to Andrew Taylor’s next book.

Excellent story that kept me enthralled right up to the end. I found it interesting when it gave insights into what might have happened at that time. Definitely recommended.

Snagged on the first person/third person narrative switches. 3 ½ stars if I could (Amazon's rating)

Andrew Taylor’s Great Fire of London and its aftermath set historical thriller has much to recommend it – the sense of period, the research, plot and character – but it failed to catch me irretrievably in its lures.

James Marwood is the son of a religious dissenter. The sect his father belonged to resisted the Restoration, and are waiting for the Second Coming. They were supporters at least of Cromwell. Marwood, trying to protect his disgraced father, is a lowly hack reporter, but is unwillingly drawn into an investigation against Dissenters. Marwood is the first person narrator for half of the book

There is another story being followed. Catherine Lovett is the daughter of a more serious, active Dissenter, who has vanished, and is being sought by the authorities for a more active involvement during the civil war, as a supporter of Republicanism. Catherine is being looked after by her Uncle by marriage – his dead wife was her father’s sister. This story is told in the third person

The reader knows that the two stories will come together, but there can be problems (as I found here) where points of view are constantly cut from one narrative to another. Inevitably making one person the narrator shifts them into a more central position than the third person story.

The book has a wonderful, dramatic beginning as the Great Fire takes hold, and St Paul’s, or its ruined shell, is the scene of a later, hugely dramatic set piece. The problem, for me, is that I stayed too aware, of what the writer was doing in his construction and execution, and was not engaged enough in the story itself.

Something about that construction held me at a remove, from both characters and stories, and, sadly, I could not quite believe in the draughtswoman/architectural designer genius in waiting which beat in the heart of young Cat Lovett. This felt like much more of a twentyfirst century viewpoint laid over history. There were also many, many, providential ‘coincidences’ of people in the right place at the right time to make various encounters happen. This is of course pretty well always the case to allow plot to progress, but, ideally, the reader does not stay aware of construction in this way, but is submerged into the suspension of disbelief

3 ½ stars, it is certainly better than okay

I received this as an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley

Set during the Great Fire of London, ‘The Ashes of London’ tells the tale of Marwood and Cat who attempt to solve a murder and get swept up in political intrigue along the way.

I found The Ashes of London to be very frustrating, it wasn’t a bad book but from it’s premise and set-up it should have been a great one - what is here is dull and unappealing. I wanted to put it down and DNF it at various points but forced myself to keep going until the end.

The characters are interesting on paper – Marwood the son of an enemy of the King and Cat a young noblewoman who leaves home to escape a loveless match. However, I found them both truly unengaging and unrelatable, I struggled to work out which character the chapter perspectives were written in without a name being mentioned – they were written identically and neither of them had a spark or personality to keep you interested.

The setting could also have been used so much better than it was –London in 1666 during the time of the Great Fire of London should have been an exciting backdrop but the fire is just used as a conversation piece and annoyance to the characters.

The plot is long and far too drawn out for such a simple set-up, up until the final few chapters nothing much happens and then it is too little far too late for this reader, I’m afraid. Most of the book seems to be about one protagonist trying to find the other and solve the mystery of what has happened to her but as we get the story from both perspectives it’s not exactly riveting stuff – we know exactly what happened already!

Overall this book put me off reading for a month, with a story that should have taken me a few days to finish purely because I had no impetus to pick it up and carry on with it. Although it’s well written it is thoroughly unengaging with a dull plot and a premise and setting which could have been explored much better than it is. Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for letting me read the ARC, sorry for not enjoying it!

A lot of research has been done in preparation of this novel and as such the destruction of St Paul's and the surrounding area is described in great details. Some twists in the story but I found it a bit difficult to catch up. Not up to C J Sansom standards but a promising start. Will read more by this author

Set in 1666 at the time of the Great Fire of London, this is a wonderfully atmospheric novel. We feel the heat of the fire scorching us in the opening chapter, and wipe the sooty sweat from our brows. There are two protagonist in this book and though they encounter each other briefly while watching the fire in that opening chapter, they don't meet properly until much later in the story.

James Marwood is a clerk to an Under Secretary of State at the Palace of Whitehall. James' father is a believer in 'King Jesus', a Republican and member of a Protestant sect who believe that getting rid of the earthly king will bring about King Jesus's reign more quickly. Only his age and increasing dementia saves him from the ultimate penalty. Let out of prison, he lives out of London, in Chelsea, and is safe as long as he keeps out of trouble.

Through his work James is involved in the investigation of a series of deaths that look very much like murders. It is a dangerous time: those who had demanded the killing of Charles I - the Regicides as they were known - were hunted down when his son, Charles II, reclaimed the throne. Is someone picking off former Republicans who have managed to hide their involvement in the king's downfall?

Catherine Lovett lives with her wealthy aunt and uncle who have betrothed her to Sir Denzil Croughton, a man much older than she is. Her father, also a follower of King Jesus and wanted as a Regicide, is on the run. Lovett has been abroad but there are rumours he is now in London. Cat longs to find him and creeps out of the house under cover of darkness to seek him out.

The lives of the two protagonists intertwine but this is not a love story. Cat wants to be an architect and have a life of her own. James is drawn ever further into the service of powerful men and ultimately into helping the king, on whose benevolence his father's freedom depends.

This is an entertaining and exciting book. It is part murder mystery, part politial intrigue. It's a page-turner which is also a well researched and fully believable historical novel.

truly gripping from start - effective atmosphere of London at that time and the sheer injustice of an independent woman being oppressed just grabbed me - and her ways of seeing herself through - marriage to a creepy older aristocrat her family want for her, a politically difficult father, hidden away in those years after the restoration - and she meets up with - rather is saved by - another poverty-stricken son of a dissident father - we wait for the length of the novel, actually, for them to get together again - very satisfying and it feels authentic history - a real tour de force for this author (again).

I really enjoyed this book. It has obviously been very well researched. The details of London in 1666 and the description of events was brilliant. I really like historical novels and this one lived up to my expectations. I liked the descriptions of the characters and how they fitted in with historical events. A very well written and thought out book. I am looking forward to reading the next one,