Fire by L.C. Tyler, Book Review

 It’s 1666 and our hero and erstwhile spy cum lawyer John Grey is taking his first taste of hot chocolate with Aminta, the Lady Pole. Most of us will be familiar with the Great Fire of London, but I wasn’t aware that hot chocolate was the new drink of fashion. I thoroughly enjoy reading about John Grey’s work for his dodgy spy master Lord Arlington and the dangerous scrapes he invariably gets himself into.

 I’ve also be wondering for some time now if John Grey is going to propose to Aminta, the headstrong playwright and childhood friend, now that she is a widow. And I’m in good company. Will, John Grey’s clerk and man Friday, also wants John to pop the question, that’s when he’s not using his cunning and initiative to save his master from whatever dangerous situation he’s gotten himself into. 

Back to the Great Fire of London. Was it actually an accident in the bakery on Pudding Lane or the result of a French Catholic plot? Grey stumbles across a conspiracy, but are things as they seem? Would his own employer really try to kill him? People on occasion are betrayed by those they had trusted, perhaps you yourself have been stabbed in the back, I know I have. It’s a fine line between being paranoid or too trusting, and in John Grey’s case, he'd better get it right as his very life is at stake. 

I enjoy L.C.Tyler’s readable style, the historical detail and his entertaining dialogue. I can’t think of a better book for a cold November evening, especially if you like historical crime. 

Fire was first published on October 25th 2018 by Constable in paperback, £8.99. L.C.Tyler, in addition to writing the successful comic crime series featuring Ethelred Tressider and Elise Thirkettle, was the winner of the 2017 CWA 'Short Story' Dagger.