#BookReview #Ad Rivers of Treason by K. J. Maitland

About the Book

From the stark Yorkshire landscape to the dark underbelly of Jacobean London, Daniel Pursglove’s new mission sees him fall prey to a ruthless copycat killer…

London, 1607. As dawn breaks, Daniel Pursglove rides north, away from the watchful eye of the King and his spies.

He returns, disguised, to his childhood home in Yorkshire – with his own score to settle. The locals have little reason to trust a prying stranger, and those who remember Daniel do so with contempt.

When a body is found with rope burns about the neck, Daniel falls under suspicion. On the run, across the country, he is pursued by a ruthless killer whose victims all share the same gallows mark. Are these the crimes of someone with a cruel personal vendetta – or has Daniel become embroiled in a bigger, and far more sinister, conspiracy?

A new river of treason is rising, flowing from the fields of Yorkshire right to the heart of the King’s court …

Format: eARC (432 pages)               Publisher: Headline
Publication date: 13th April 2023 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

Rivers of Treason is the third book in the author’s series set in England during the reign of James I and featuring reluctant spy, Daniel Pursglove. It’s the follow-up to The Drowned City and Traitor in the Ice both of which I’ve read and reviewed.  Rivers of Treason is very much a continuation of the story that commenced in The Drowned City so, although there are a few brief recaps of events in earlier books, I would recommend reading the series from the beginning.

Daniel is still involved in the hunt for Spero Pettingar, the only conspirator involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot who evaded capture, and the gruesome interrogations and executions that followed. I confess that until I read the historical notes at the end of the first book I hadn’t realised Spero Pettingar was a real historical figure. In fact, I was convinced his name was an anagram!

The author continues to introduce tantalising details about Daniel’s troubled past. The identity of his father, even his own real name, remain just as much a mystery to him as it does to the reader, although he is beginning to uncover small clues about his childhood. But some of these provoke more questions than answers.  Daniel can look after himself and that’s just as well because he has made himself some formidable enemies. There’s one in particular whose hatred for Daniel is very personal. Unfortunately, people who get involved with Daniel, or try to help him, have a habit of ending up dead, often in particularly unpleasant ways. And if Daniel is often perplexed by the motivations behind certain characters’ actions than he’s in good company because the fiendishly intricate plot definitely demands concentration on the part of the reader.

No historical novel set in the period is complete without an appearance by one of the Cecil family; in this case it’s Robert Cecil. I actually felt some sympathy for him having to deal with the petulant, impulsive King James who seems more interested in adding wild beasts to his menagerie than matters of state. Having said that, with the Gunpowder Plot still within recent memory, the King can be forgiven for taking steps to thwart any future attempt. This gives rise to a neat little side plot. I really enjoyed the insight into the Stuart court: the lavish feasts, preening courtiers and extravagant masques.  I can recommend reading the fascinating ‘Behind the Scenes of this Novel’ and Glossary (which goes beyond brief definitions) in which you can find out about such things as purveyance, huffcap, Jenny Hanivers and what it means to be ‘bumpsy’.

Weather has played a key part in the previous two books: the Great Flood of 1606 in The Drowned City and the Great Frost of 1607 in Traitor in the Ice. In Rivers of Treason it’s the impact of both of these on livelihoods that is the focus. ‘Food is scarce: half the farmland in the west was ruined by salt in the flood, thousands of cattle and sheep drowned or frozen, winter wheat wiped out by frost, and the land now too sodden to be worked for weeks.’ It’s no wonder there is a pervading atmosphere of unrest.

As always, the author conjures up the sights, sounds and smells of London – the latter being invariably unpleasant. ‘A thick blanket of fog oozed up over the city as dusk crept in. It rose like marsh gas from the open sewers and reeeking cellars, and from the slug-grey river itself.’

Rivers of Treason is an absorbing, intricate historical thriller whose startling conclusion will leave you eager to find out what happens next. Personally, I hope this features more of the mysterious Cimex.  (If you would like to be whisked away to an earlier time period, the author also writes medieval novels under the name of Karen Maitland.)

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Headline via NetGalley.

In three words: Suspenseful, immersive, intriguing

Try something similar: The Sinner’s Mark by S. W. Perry

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About the Author

Karen Maitland is an historical novelist, lecturer and teacher of Creative Writing, with over twenty books to her name. She grew up in Malta, which inspired her passion for history, and travelled and worked all over the world before settling in the United Kingdom. She has a doctorate in psycholinguistics, and now lives on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon.

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