The Bloodless Boy
In 1678, the exsanguinated body of a boy is discovered on the banks of London’s River Fleet. Harry Hunt, working as an assistant to the scientist Robert Hooke, is amongst the first to see the body and strives to discover the murderer and the reason for the boy’s death. Initially he is encouraged by Hooke, but later, when Hooke decides to cease the investigation, Harry continues, in secret and alone, putting himself, and those close to him, in danger.
First self-published in 2014, this version is substantially longer than the original, still compressing two years of events (1677 to 1679) into a few weeks in January. There is a prevalence of “info dump” in the slow-moving early part of the novel and a tendency to over-explain. In contrast, the final 100 pages flow with great speed and skill.
Although, in parts extremely well written, this novel is not for the historical purist. There are a number of factual errors and anachronisms. Until 1752 the new year began in March, not on January 1st, and the revolving mechanism on pistols remained manual until the 19th century. Lloyd uses words not in common parlance in 1678, e.g. “pugilist” (1789), and “Jack Robinson” (1778). Seemingly solely in order to fit in the expression “mountebank and his merry-Andrew,” Lloyd creates grotesque characterisations of Israel Tonge and Titus Oates.
This is a “Blood Libel” story, but Lloyd dismisses in a single sentence the wide prevalence, in that era, of the anti-Semitic nature of such claims, ascribing it to Catholics to reinforce the “Popish Plot” theories of the time.
Accepting the precedence of a “novel” over historical reality, this is a book with much to admire, not least for the extensive bibliography at the end.
