Published 13th June 2024 by Melville House.
From the cover of the book:
In late 17th Century London rich young women are being kidnapped, then murdered. Harry Hunt, formerly of the Royal Society but now a rich gentleman, is falsely accused. To clear his name, he must rely on his abandoned scientific expertise and battle the full force of the British aristocracy.1681. London cooks in summer heat. Bonfires are lit in protest against the King’s brother, James, heir to the throne but openly Catholic. Rumours abound of a ‘Black Box’, said to conceal proof the King’s illegitimate son is really the rightful heir.
When a wealthy merchant’s daughter is kidnapped and murdered―even though a ransom was paid―the King orders Harry Hunt of the Royal Society to help investigate.
A second woman goes missing: Elizabeth Thynne, England’s richest heiress. Her husband has a ransom letter from the same kidnappers.
Pressured by powerful men to find the killers and rescue Elizabeth, Harry uncovers a disturbing link to Bethlehem Hospital, better known as Bedlam. But he is falsely accused of the crimes.
To prove his innocence, he must find the real culprits. Harry’s search takes him from Rotherhithe to Whitehall Palace, and to the house of Sir Peter Lely, the famous portrait-painter, in Covent Garden. And back to Bedlam. He has the Monarchy’s future in his hands.
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London, 1681. Harry Hunt is now living the life of a gentleman, having been rewarded handsomely for his services to the Crown. Decked out in his new foppery, Hunt attends a dissection carried out by his former colleagues at the Royal Academy, only to discover that the cadaver apparently provided by Bethlehem (Bedlam) Hospital is actually the body of his wealthy Bloomsbury neighbour, Miss Diana Cantley. Once again, Hunt finds himself embroiled in a murky mystery at the behest of King Charles II. His task is to get to the bottom of how the body of a young society woman, who it seems had been kidnapped, ended up on a dissecting table instead of that of a Bedlam inmate - even though a sizeable ransom had been paid for her return.
When a second young woman goes missing, this time the heiress Elizabeth Tynne, the evidence points to her having been taken by the same kidnappers who killed Diana Cantley. Hunt beings to realise that there is more behind this business than demands for money: someone intends to railroad the future of the Monarchy, and they will stop at nothing to prevent him getting to the truth - even falsely implicating him in their crimes. Against the backdrop of a sweltering London that threatens to erupt into political turmoil, Hunt must clear his name and find the real culprits before it is too late...
The Bedlam Cadaver is the third gripping instalment of the Hooke and Hunt series, set in the vividly recreated setting of Restoration England (and occasionally further afield). The books can be read as standalone novels, but I highly recommend taking in books one and two as well, The Bloodless Boy and The Poison Machine, as they add wonderful texture to the characters and plot of this third book - and they are cracking reads!
In what is starting to be a pattern for Harry Hunt's life, he is once again landed with the difficult task of trying to foil a plot to destabilise the Monarchy, at the request of charismatic King Charles II. These missions have certainly been profitable, but have got him into more than a few scrapes with danger. This adventure is no exception to the rule.
In a rollicking tale full of twists and turns, the plot follows Hunt's investigation into the murder of Diana Cantley, then broadens into a multi-stranded mystery about kidnappings, murder, subterfuge with mortal remains, and the hunt for a 'black box' that holds documents vital to deciding the Succession. The inquiry takes Hunt all over a London sweating under sultry summer temperatures, leading him to palaces and parlours; houses of intellectual aspirations and dubious ambitions; and intriguingly, the sinister environs of Bedlam Hospital, in a side-plot based on unsettling fact. And as Hunt traces the threads of knotty puzzles to their shocking conclusions, via lovely episodes in the salons of a famous painter, and on the 'wrong' side of the river, he unexpectedly rediscovers himself under the guise of 'gentleman' he has been carefully trying to cultivate - with surprising developments on the romantic front too.
As in the earlier novels, Lloyd's considerable skill in blending fact and fiction means that Hunt's third adventure is just as spellbinding as I have come to expect from his writing. This thrums with delicious Alexandre Dumas-esque vibes, dripping with politically motivated plots within plots, and shines insightful light on fascinating history about Restoration England - in this instance, delving into the far-reaching consequences of Charles II's wanderings outside of the marital bed, when his illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, made a bid to be named heir to the throne. Lloyd also continues to bring the London of ideas and architecture of this period alive, as it is reborn from the ashes of the Great Fire of 1666, under the guiding hands of famous figures like Sir Christopher Wren and Hunt's close friend, and mentor, Robert Hooke. It is such fun tracing the origins of well-known parts of London that have become landmarks of this sprawling city, and the scientific developments that grew from the work of the Royal Society, and really connects you to the wealth of historical detail Lloyd includes in his novels.
I consumed this book from cover to cover. Lloyd just gets better with each Hooke and Hunt novel, and this is my favourite one yet. His books easily deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the great Andrew Taylor and Ken Follett, so if classy historical fiction is your bag then you really should check out this series. I cannot wait for book four!
The Bedlam Cadaver is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats.
Thank you to Melville House for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
After a twenty-year career as a secondary school teacher, he has now returned to painting and writing, and is working on the fourth book in the Hunt and Hooke series.
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