England is festering during the declining years of James I. When an unknown man is found dead in the Norfolk fens, everyone from East Anglia to Whitehall wants the murder covered up. That treasonable task falls on young Oliver Cromwell, unrecognisable from the Puritanical tyrant he became. To save his own skin he must identify the murderer, which pits him against a brutal London marshal working for the infamous Duke of Buckingham. It’s rural England versus the royal court in a slow and macabre dance of death involving Spanish tumblers, vicious midwives, royal masques and loyalties that shift like smoke.

Rich in historical detail and driven by intrigue, A Body in the Barn blends murder mystery with political drama, offering a vivid portrait of England at a turning point.

For readers of CJ Sansom’s Shardlake and SG Maclean’s Damian Seeker books.

The Stuart Set continues with Don’t Blame Oliver.