The King's Spy
(Thomas Hill 1)
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4.2 • 56 Ratings
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
Summer, 1643
England is at war with itself. King Charles I has fled London, his negotiations with Parliament in tatters. The country is consumed by bloodshed.
For Thomas Hill, a man of letters quietly running a bookshop in the rural town of Romsey, knowledge of the war is limited to the rumours that reach the local inn.
When a stranger knocks on his door one night and informs him that the king's cryptographer has died, everything changes. Aware of Thomas's background as a mathematician and his expertise in codes and ciphers, the king has summoned him to his court in Oxford.
On arrival, Thomas soon discovers that nothing at court is straightforward. There is evidence of a traitor in their midst. Brutal murder follows brutal murder. And when a vital message encrypted with a notoriously unbreakable code is intercepted, he must decipher it to reveal the king's betrayer and prevent the violent death that failure will surely bring.
Customer Reviews
Not the usual Oxford novel
This is the first in the Author’s series about Thomas Hill, bookseller, cryptographer and unlikely hero. I read numbers two and three first and so this is for me a sort of retrospective and completes my attachment to the series.
The writer’s meticulous research does not weigh down the narrative which engages a reader from the first. Thomas Hill is an interesting character who develops consistently over the series. For some reason I am reminded of John Buchan’s Richard Hannay and that is for me praise indeed.
I recommend without hesitation and I am going to re-read all of them - in order this time!
History comes alive
The first in a series introduces the reader to the skills of a latter day code breaker in the turbulent times of the English Civil War.
A great book leaving the reader hungry for the next book. Well crafted and historically correct.