The Thomas Chaloner series is an excellent one. For those who love high intensity espionage with likeable and believable characters set in a historical setting that is no wonderfully depicted, and one with actual historical figures taking part in the action, this is the series for you. In this book Thomas is tasked by his Earl to find out who is poisoning King Charles II birds who are housed in St. Jame's Park. What starts out as a seemingly simple investigation turns into wild tear across London while Thomas's leads more and more deadly and threatening occurrences. Soon it is apparent that the birds are only a small part of a much more sinister plot and bodies appear to be piling up all over the place. Thomas puts his life at risk more than once while he tries to stop the plotting and killing. The action in this book takes place over a very hectic two weeks right in the midst of a January cold snap. The year is 1665 and Londoners are disgruntled and unhappy with the state of their city. Ms. Gregory sets a very tense pace and there is a lot of action within this two week period. Poor Thomas is at his wits end trying to find out what is really going on, and he finds himself utterly alone as he doesn't know who to trust, and his best ally ,who is old boss under the parliamentary regime, seems to be cutting himself off from him. This is an excellent series for history buffs and for lovers of espionage tales. ( )

This is another interesting outing for Thomas Chaloner. As usual, there is a second story line that amuses and slightly sidetracks both the reader and the main character - to link dead ducks to a treasonous conspiracy is classic Susanna Gregory.

I’m still perplexed about Chaloner. He is supposed to be a spy - but he has no instincts or good judgement when it comes to assessing the people he comes into contact with. You have to wonder how he's still alive.

I do enjoy this series, and this is one of the better ones. However, Matthew Bartholomew is my preferred Gregory leading man. ( )