In the gathering storm before the French Revolution, a quiet English city is beset by intrigue, corruption and violence. Local lawyer Thomas Newton is found murdered in Lichfield’s ancient cathedral. With help from his watchman, Dudley Netherford, and from his friend and researcher, Frank Barber – Dr Johnson’s former manservant and a manumitted slave – down at heel thief-taker Samuel Kinsman must untangle the threads of conspiracy, patronage and prejudice if he is to avoid humiliation, or worse, and save his family from the threats that confront them.
