A Thief’s Justice (A Company of Rogues, 2)
This swashbuckling novel takes us to a bitterly cold London in 1716. The city is in the grip of a savage winter, with the Thames frozen over. It is against this chilly backdrop that we meet our protagonist Jonas Flynt, an unlikely hero whose investigative skills will soon be called upon to save a young male sex worker from the noose. Sam Yates has been accused of the murder of Justice Geoffrey Dumont, whose lifeless body has been found at St Paul’s Cathedral. In custody, the young man proclaims his innocence, saying he had received a message to meet the victim at the time the judge was murdered. It is up to Flynt – a thief, gambler and killer but with a conscience and a troubled past to boot – and courtesan Belle St Clair to seek out the truth before time runs out.
Skelton takes us on a twisting and turning route towards the novel’s inevitable conclusion, giving the reader an insight into the unromantic and deprived side of England’s capital in the 18th century, including the horrors of Newgate prison. The skilful way the author handles his subject means we care about poor Sam’s fate and that of the murdered judge, who we know as a man of honour. We have seen the villainous types Flynt comes up against, time and time again, which makes us root for our flawed hero in his fight against injustice and quest to right a wrong. Skelton presents us with a compelling plot, rounded characters and some wonderful descriptions that can only have come from meticulous research of the period. London’s underbelly, with its gambling dens, brothels and inns, is vividly brought to life, adding to the sense of menace that lurks on every street corner.
