The Desperate Remedy by Martin Stephen

The Desperate Remedy

Martin Stephen

Skullduggery and a good racy plot makes for a pacy, rough and ready thriller which kept me in suspense right to the end. It took me deep into the dark stinking heart of seventeenth century London, full of casual violence, danger and betrayal. The very thing for a good night in when it's dark and rainy outdoors.

Extract
He arrived at the place, and drew back into an opposite doorway, waiting. He heard the courtier long before he saw his shadow arrive at the door, panting with exertion. The storm lantern was shaking in the courtier's hand. He moved out from the shadow of the door-way and heard the other's indrawn breath of fear, before recognition struck. The courtier might be the finest of servants at Court, bowing and scraping his way up the arse of his masters. He might be lord of all he surveyed below stairs. He was certainly a trusted secretary of one of the most powerful men in England. Yet here, in this place, he was a frightened little man, on his master's orders, in a dark cloak and borrowed boots. He paid for his pleasure and his vanity by this meeting in a dark place.
Parallels
  • Firedrake's Eye by Patricia Finney
  • An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
  • A Murder on the Appian Way by Steven Saylor