‘Rags of Time’ is set in London in 1639. It tells the story of spice merchant Thomas Tallant, accused of murder and fighting to clear his name, and the enigmatic Elizabeth Seymour whose passion for astronomy and mathematics is only matched by her addiction to tobacco and the gaming tables.
Can Elizabeth’s brilliance untangle the web of deceit that threatens to drag Tom under, as England slides into civil war?
‘Rags’ is a murder mystery but not just a procedural thriller. Tom’s hunt for the real killer takes him on a journey through the ferment of new thinking that’s sweeping London in the 1640s. Change is everywhere – science, street politics, commerce and religion – and this shapes the plot, action, characters and outcome.
Writing has been central to Mike Ward’s professional life. On graduating from university he became a journalist, working in newspapers and for the BBC. He then went into journalism education, teaching and researching journalism practice before becoming head of the UK’s prestigious Journalism School at UCLan. For the last eight years he has run his own content creation company.
‘Rags of Time’ is Mike’s debut novel. Its sequel is due to be published late in 2020.
My thoughts:
This was a fun and intelligent historical crime novel, with an engaging protagonist in Thomas Tallent and plenty of period detail.
A suitably knotty plot, replete with conspiracies, religious conflicts and grim murders in squalid Stewart London in the lead up to Civil War.
The reveal at the end was a twist indeed and the plot far more fiendish that it first appeared. An excellent debut that holds it’s own in a growing field.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
Haunted by their past, the Skelf women are hoping for a quieter life. But running both a funeral directors’ and a private investigation business means trouble is never far away, and when a car crashes into the open grave at a funeral Dorothy is conducting, she can’t help looking into the dead driver’s shadowy life. While Dorothy uncovers a dark truth at the heart of Edinburgh society, her daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah have their own struggles. Jenny’s ex-husband Craig is making plans that could shatter the Skelf women’s lives, and the increasingly obsessive Hannah has formed a friendship with an elderly professor that is fast turning deadly. But something even more sinister emerges when a drumming student of Dorothy’s disappears, and suspicion falls on her parents. The Skelf women find themselves immersed in an unbearable darkness – but could the real threat be to themselves? Fast-paced, darkly funny, yet touching and tender, the Skelf family series is a welcome reboot to the classic PI novel, whilst also asking deeper questions about family, society and grief.
Doug Johnstone is the author of more ten novels, most recently Breakers (2019), which has been shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year and A Dark Matter (2020), which launched the Skelfs series. Several of his books have been bestsellers and award winners, and his work has been praised by the likes of Val McDermid, Irvine Welsh and Ian Rankin. He’s taught creative writing and been writer in residence at various institutions – including a funeral home, which he drew on to write A Dark Matter – and has been an arts journalist for twenty years. Doug is a songwriter and musician with five albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also player-manager of the Scotland Writers Football Club. He lives in Edinburgh.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 