The Bedlam Cadaver (A Hunt and Hooke Novel)
1681, Restoration London. The king’s brother James, a Catholic, is heir to the throne, but there is rumoured to be a ‘black box’ containing evidence that the king’s illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, is the rightful heir. In the heat of summer, rich young women are being kidnapped and murdered. First is Diana Cantley, then Elizabeth Percy Thynne. Harry Hunt, formerly of the Royal Society, comes falsely under suspicion. Harry’s quest to clear his name takes him all over the 17th-century city, to the doors of Bethlehem (Bedlam) Hospital, into the studio of painter of royal mistresses Peter Lely.
It’s a historical thriller, an interesting retelling of a real historical murder, with a cast of characters famous from history—King Charles II, Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke (architect of Bethlehem Hospital)—and other dignitaries introduced by the artful device of a dissection demonstration at Gresham College. But it’s the wrong cadaver, which makes for a brilliant inciting incident. This period of history is full of intrigue, with Protestants and Catholics vying to put their candidate on the throne.
On the run for his life and his reputation, Harry is swept by the Thames as far as Rotherhithe, affording us a tour of the Docklands area with all the infrastructure and the guilty detritus of colonialism and the slave trade. I love how he communicates with Hooke from a distance.
The sense of time and place is beautiful, even including a public execution at Tyburn. The exposition of the political debates and events of the period is well done. There’s a lot to get across, and Lloyd does it mainly through dialogue, without sounding forced.
