Rags of Time is the first book in a new historical crime series, The Thomas Tallant Mysteries, by Michael Ward and is set during the upheaval of the 17th Century in England.
Title: Rags of Time
Author: Michael Ward
Series: A Thomas Tallant Mystery #1
First Published: July 1, 2020
Publisher: independently published
Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Acquired: from the author
*** Thank you to the author, Michael Ward, for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***
Thomas Tallant is a young and ambitious spice merchant who has just returned home from India to find London in turmoil. A bitter struggle is brewing between King Charles I and Parliament, as England slides into civil war. The capital is simmering with dissent. The conflict is ready to boil over.
But Thomas has other things to worry about. A wealthy merchant, Sir Joseph Venell, is savagely killed and Thomas is a main suspect. When Venell’s business partner, Sir Hugh Swofford, plunges to his death in the Tallant household, things do not look good for Thomas.
As Thomas struggles to clear his name, he becomes captivated by the enigmatic Elizabeth Seymour, whose passion for astronomy and mathematics is matched only by her “unwomanly” addiction.
But after a third victim is claimed and all clues point to Thomas, time is running out. Thomas must solve this case before he’s caught by the authorities.
A fast-paced historical thriller
While I am a big fan of historical fiction mysteries, Rags of Time is set in a time period I’m completely unfamiliar with (London in 1639). So I picked up the book with a bit of trepidation – I was worried that I would have a hard time keeping track of the historical figures and events. My worries soon faded away as I was transported into the past and completely absorbed by the action and characters.
From the very first sentence I was riveted. The book starts off with the murder of Sir Joseph Venell, one of London’s richest wool merchants. Of course, I was expecting a murder (this is a murder mystery, after all), but it was the *way* Venell died that completely captured by interest and drew me into the story immediately. I found myself hurling along with the action as we are introduced to all the main players. Things go from bad to worse fairly quickly and the reader finds themselves running alongside Thomas Tallant as he works to clear his name.
This is a very fast-paced book, but there is still lots of historical information and background thrown in. The author’s deftness in crafting historical fiction is obvious in how seamless the historical facts are woven into the story. I never felt like I was “learning” history, but I definitely felt the environment building around me and there was a lot I came away with from this period in time.
A strong cast of characters
Putting aside the action and quick pace of the story, it’s really the characters that make this story a great read.
Thomas is a great protagonist. He’s just a regular man, trying to make a living in a very trying time. As a Dutch spice merchant, there is already some bias against him (because he’s a foreigner), so being accused to murder certainly doesn’t help. He’s a likable guy but he always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even his budding relationship with Elizabeth Seymour is filled with bad timing and missed opportunities.
Speaking of Elizabeth, what a unique and different character. While women portrayed in historical fiction mysteries are often bolder and more “ahead of their time” than usual, Elizabeth blows them all out of the water. She is smart and fearless. She is also interested in mathematics and astronomy and has an addiction to the gaming tables (bet you didn’t see THAT coming!). It was quite interesting to see a female love interest that had a vice like that. It made her very human.
And while there was a lot of other interesting characters, including Robert Petty, who’s investigating the murders and Edmund Dalloway, Thomas’ childhood friend, one of the other “characters” that captured my interest was London itself. Ward does a wonderful job of describing the rigid, yet chaotic life that the people of England were living through at this time. It was fascinating.
I’m so glad that I was given the change to read Rags of Time. It was suspenseful, interesting and just plain fun. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more in the Thomas Tallant series and highly recommend this to anyone looking for a strong historical mystery to sink their teeth into.
Read Rags of Time for yourself
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