Laurence Jago – serie

* A TIMES HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR ** SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE MONTH ** LONGLISTED FOR THE HWA DEBUT CROWN *'One of the best debuts of the year' - THE TIMES'As nimbly realised as by the genre's master, Andrew Taylor' - FINANCIAL TIMES'Black Drop is a joy from start to finish' - ANDREW TAYLORThis is the confession of Laurence Jago. Clerk. Gentleman. Spy.July 1794, and London is filled with rumours of revolution. The war against the French is not going in Britain's favour, and negotiations with America are on a knife edge.Laurence Jago, Foreign Office clerk, is ever more reliant on opium - the Black Drop - to ease his nightmares. A highly sensitive letter, whose contents could lead to the destruction of the British Army, has been leaked to the press and Laurence is a suspect. Then he discovers the body of a fellow clerk - a supposed suicide - and it seems clear where the blame truly lies.But Laurence is certain both of his friend's innocence, and that he was murdered. But after years of hiding his own secrets from his powerful employers, can Laurence find the true culprit without ending up on the gallows himself?A thrilling historical mystery, perfect for readers of C.J. Sansom, Andrew Taylor, Antonia Hodgson and Laura Shepherd-Robinson.'This opium-fuelled gem is a murderous romp' - JANICE HALLETT'A thrilling slice of pitch-dark historical fiction' - EMMA STONEX'A gripping, intricate story of Georgian high politics' - W.C. RYAN

* A TIMES HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR ** SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE MONTH ** LONGLISTED FOR THE HWA DEBUT CROWN *''One of the best debuts of the year'' - THE TIMES''As nimbly realised as by the genre''s master, Andrew Taylor'' - FINANCIAL TIMES''Black Drop is a joy from start to finish'' - ANDREW TAYLORThis is the confession of Laurence Jago. Clerk. Gentleman. Spy. July 1794, and London is filled with rumours of revolution. The war against the French is not going in Britain''s favour, and negotiations with America are on a knife edge. Laurence Jago, Foreign Office clerk, is ever more reliant on opium - the Black Drop - to ease his nightmares. A highly sensitive letter, whose contents could lead to the destruction of the British Army, has been leaked to the press and Laurence is a suspect. Then he discovers the body of a fellow clerk - a supposed suicide - and it seems clear where the blame truly lies. But Laurence is certain both of his friend''s innocence, and that he was murdered. But after years of hiding his own secrets from his powerful employers, can Laurence find the true culprit without ending up on the gallows himself?A thrilling historical mystery, perfect for readers of C.J. Sansom, Andrew Taylor, Antonia Hodgson and Laura Shepherd-Robinson.''This opium-fuelled gem is a murderous romp'' - JANICE HALLETT''A thrilling slice of pitch-dark historical fiction'' - EMMA STONEX''A gripping, intricate story of Georgian high politics'' - W.C. RYAN

** A WATERSTONES THRILLER OF THE MONTH **** AN INSTANT TIMES BESTSELLER **** A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR **** SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA HISTORICAL DAGGER AWARD **** LONGLISTED FOR THE THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR **''A TRULY GRIPPING READ'' - GUARDIAN''FABULOUS, A DELIGHT'' - S.G. MACLEAN''A FINE ADVENTURE REMINISCENT OF PATRICK O''BRIAN'' - SUNDAY TIMESThis is the secret report of Laurence Jago. Unwilling spy. Reluctant sailor. Accidental detective. New Year 1795, and Laurence Jago is aboard the Tankerville mail ship, en route to Philadelphia. Laurence is travelling undercover, supposedly as a journalist''s assistant. But his real mission is to protect a civil servant, en route to Congress with a vital treaty that will stop the Americans from joining the French in their war against Britain.When the civil servant meets an unfortunate - and apparently accidental - end, the treaty disappears, and Laurence realises that only he can keep the Americans out of the war. Trapped on the ship with a strange assortment of travellers including two penniless French aristocrats, an Irish actress and a dancing bear, Laurence must hunt down both the lost treaty and the murderer, before he has a tragic ''accident'' himself...The new page-turning historical mystery from the author of BLACK DROP, a 2021 TIMES Book of the Year. Perfect for readers of Andrew Taylor, Laura Shepherd-Robinson and S.J. Parris.

** A WATERSTONES THRILLER OF THE MONTH **** AN INSTANT TIMES BESTSELLER **** A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR **** SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA HISTORICAL DAGGER AWARD **** LONGLISTED FOR THE THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR **'A TRULY GRIPPING READ' - GUARDIAN'FABULOUS, A DELIGHT' - S.G. MACLEAN'A FINE ADVENTURE REMINISCENT OF PATRICK O'BRIAN' - SUNDAY TIMESThis is the secret report of Laurence Jago. Unwilling spy. Reluctant sailor. Accidental detective.New Year 1795, and Laurence Jago is aboard the Tankerville mail ship, en route to Philadelphia. Laurence is travelling undercover, supposedly as a journalist's assistant. But his real mission is to protect a civil servant, en route to Congress with a vital treaty that will stop the Americans from joining the French in their war against Britain.When the civil servant meets an unfortunate - and apparently accidental - end, the treaty disappears, and Laurence realises that only he can keep the Americans out of the war. Trapped on the ship with a strange assortment of travellers including two penniless French aristocrats, an Irish actress and a dancing bear, Laurence must hunt down both the lost treaty and the murderer, before he has a tragic 'accident' himself...The new page-turning historical mystery from the author of BLACK DROP, a 2021 TIMES Book of the Year. Perfect for readers of Andrew Taylor, Laura Shepherd-Robinson and S.J. Parris.

** A TELEGRAPH BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR **** SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA HISTORICAL DAGGER AWARD **''Nattrass''s best yet'' - S.G. MACLEAN''Wonderfully evocative'' - DAILY TELEGRAPH''Authentic and relentlessly pageturning'' - SUNDAY EXPRESSA rigged election. A feuding Cornish town. A suspicious death. And a perspicacious pig.May 1796, and former Foreign Office clerk Laurence Jago and his larger-than-life employer, the journalist William Philpott, have escaped America - and Philpott''s near imprisonment for libel - by the skin of their teeth. They return to Laurence''s hometown of Helston, Cornwall, in the hope of rest and recuperation, but instead find themselves in the middle of a tumultuous election that has the inhabitants of the town at one another''s throats.Only two men may vote in this rotten borough, and when one of them dies in suspicious circumstances, Laurence is ordered to investigate on behalf of the town''s political patron, his old master the Duke of Leeds. Then the second elector is poisoned and suspicion turns on the town doctor, the gentle Pythagoras Jago, Laurence''s own cousin. Suddenly Laurence finds himself ensnared in generations of bad blood and petty rivalries, with his cousin''s fate in his hands...The new page-turning historical mystery from the author of Black Drop, a 2021 Times Book of the Year. Perfect for readers of Andrew Taylor and Laura Shepherd-Robinson.

** A TELEGRAPH BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR **** SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA HISTORICAL DAGGER AWARD **'Nattrass's best yet' - S.G. MACLEAN'Wonderfully evocative' - DAILY TELEGRAPH'Authentic and relentlessly pageturning' - SUNDAY EXPRESSA rigged election. A feuding Cornish town. A suspicious death. And a perspicacious pig.May 1796, and former Foreign Office clerk Laurence Jago and his larger-than-life employer, the journalist William Philpott, have escaped America - and Philpott's near imprisonment for libel - by the skin of their teeth. They return to Laurence's hometown of Helston, Cornwall, in the hope of rest and recuperation, but instead find themselves in the middle of a tumultuous election that has the inhabitants of the town at one another's throats.Only two men may vote in this rotten borough, and when one of them dies in suspicious circumstances, Laurence is ordered to investigate on behalf of the town's political patron, his old master the Duke of Leeds. Then the second elector is poisoned and suspicion turns on the town doctor, the gentle Pythagoras Jago, Laurence's own cousin. Suddenly Laurence finds himself ensnared in generations of bad blood and petty rivalries, with his cousin's fate in his hands...The new page-turning historical mystery from the author of Black Drop, a 2021 Times Book of the Year. Perfect for readers of Andrew Taylor and Laura Shepherd-Robinson.

** A WATERSTONES THRILLER OF THE MONTH **** SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA HISTORICAL DAGGER AWARD **** AN INSTANT TIMES BESTSELLER ** ** A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR **'A TRULY GRIPPING READ' - GUARDIAN'FABULOUS, A DELIGHT' - S.G. MACLEAN'A FINE ADVENTURE REMINISCENT OF PATRICK O'BRIAN' - SUNDAY TIMESThis is the secret report of Laurence Jago. Ex-clerk. Unwilling spy. Reluctant sailor. Accidental detective.New Year 1795, and Laurence Jago is aboard the Tankerville mail ship, en route to Philadelphia. Ostensibly travelling as assistant to the irrepressible journalist William Philpott, Laurence's real mission is to aid the civil servant carrying a vital treaty to Congress. A treaty that will prevent the Americans from joining with the French in the war against Britain.However, when the civil servant meets an unfortunate - and supposedly accidental - end and the treaty disappears, Laurence realises only he can now prevent war with the US. Trapped on the ship with travellers including two penniless French aristocrats, an Irish actress and a dancing bear, Laurence must hunt down both the lost treaty and the murderer, before he has a tragic 'accident' himself...The new page-turning historical mystery from the author of BLACK DROP, a 2021 TIMES Book of the Year. Perfect for readers of Andrew Taylor, Laura Shepherd-Robinson and S.J. Parris.