‘A Grave for a Thief’ by Douglas Skelton

Published by Canelo,
8 February 2024.
SBN: 978-1-80436715-5 (HB)

London, 1716, and soldier turned highwayman turned gambler Jonas Flynt has been given the assignment of finding a missing lawyer. Turns out he’s not the only one looking – and the others are prepared to play rough.

This fast-moving historical thriller is wonderfully atmospheric, with the sights, sounds and smells of early Georgian London brought vividly to life as Jonas Flynt moves from coffee house to the no-go area of the Rookeries in search of the missing lawyer’s girl, the only one who might know where he’s gone.

The second half of the book is set in the northern village of Gallowmire, a country place ruled by a malevolent squire. The characters are great: huge, greedy lawyer Lemuel Gribble, sparky prostitute Bess, the mad Fitzgerald, take-no-prisoners gipsy Masilda and Jonas’s former companion, Gabriel Cain, whom Jonas would like to trust, but can’t. There’s even a walk-on part for Sir Isaac Newton. Then there are the women in Jonas’s life, Cassie back in Scotland and beautiful Belle St Clair in London. Jonas himself is a fun person to spend time with: quick-witted, a streak of sentimentality along with his realism, a quixotic impulse to right wrongs, and an expert with any weapon available. The plot rattles along at speed, with lurking rogues a-plenty, double-dealing, treachery and an epic finish which leaves Gallowmire strewn with corpses.

A cracking historical crime novel with all the excitement, style and shoot-outs of the best spaghetti westerns. This is the third in the Company of Rogues series. I thoroughly enjoyed it as a stand-alone, but the character interaction was so great that I want now to go back and see the history between them, starting with book 1 of the series, An Honourable Thief.
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Reviewer: Marsali Taylor

Douglas Skelton is an established true crime author, penning eleven books including Glasgow’s Black Heart, Frightener and Indian Peter. He has appeared on a variety of documentaries and news programmes as an expert on Glasgow crime, most recently in the Glasgow programme of ‘Gangs of Britain’ with Martin and Gary Kemp. His 2005 book Indian Peter was later adapted for a BBC Scotland radio documentary which he presented. His book Frightener, co-written with Lisa Brownlie, was instrumental in cleaning the names of two men wrongly imprisoned for mass murder and is currently being developed as a feature film. Blood City was his first foray into fiction.

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh, and came to Shetland as a newly-qualified teacher. She is currently a part-time teacher on Shetland's scenic west side, living with her husband and two Shetland ponies. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama group.  

http://marsalitaylor.co.uk/