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First Published:
Mar 2016, 400 pages
Paperback:
Mar 2017, 400 pages
Book Reviewed by:
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In a new Georgian–era mystery by Antonia Hodgson, the follow-up to The Devil in the Marshalsea, Tom Hawkins prays for a royal pardon as he relives the espionage, underground dealings, and murder accusations that sent him to the gallows.
London, 1728. Tom Hawkins is headed to the gallows, accused of murder. Gentlemen don't hang and Tom's damned if he'll be the first. He may not be much of a gentleman, but he is innocent. He just always finds his way into a spot of bad luck.
It's hard to say when Tom's troubles began. He was happily living in sin with his beloved, Kitty Sparks — though their neighbors were certainly less pleased about that. He probably shouldn't have told London's most cunning criminal mastermind that he was "bored and looking for adventure." Nor should he have offered to help the king's mistress in her desperate struggles with a brutal and vindictive husband. And he definitely shouldn't have trusted the calculating Queen Caroline. She's promised him a royal pardon if he holds his tongue, but then again, there is nothing more silent than a hanged man.
Now Tom must scramble to save his life and protect those he loves. But as the noose tightens, his time is running out.
Prologue
No one thought Tom Hawkins would hang. Not until the last moment.
Gentlemen don't hang; not even ones found guilty of murder. Hawkins wasn't much of a gentleman, that was true, but he came from a good family. A good family with good connections. The pardon would come. Sometimes the Marshal kept it hidden deep in his pocket, only to pull it out with a flourish when the procession reached the gallows. A bit of drama for the mob. A lesson, too: an act of mercy is always a lesson.
This is what Hawkins tells himself as his cart rolls slowly out of Newgate Prison. The pardon will come. I've kept my side of the bargain. I've held my tongue. But Hawkins has a gambler's instinct, and he can feel the odds rising with each turn of the wheel.
He should have been freed hours ago. If he could only catch someone's eye . . . but the Marshal is riding up at the head of the procession, followed by a band of constables armed with staves. Their boots pound ...
Once I began reading this one, though, I was so wrapped up by the third chapter, I had to stay up nearly all night to finish it! The characters are so meaty, the action so intriguing, and the scenarios so realistic, I was completely swept away – until the last word was read...continued
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(Reviewed by BookBrowse First Impression Reviewers).
The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins is set during the eighteenth century in England, the time when King George II and his wife, Queen Caroline, ruled Great Britain. As reviewer Becky H. says, in the novel, "the picture presented of Queen Caroline is delightful — and convincingly nefarious."
Queen Caroline was a native German born in the small state of Anspach. She caught the eye of George Augustus who at that time was son of the Elector of Hanover in Germany (an elector was essentially equivalent of a prince). The two were soon married and after George's father, King George I, passed away, Caroline's husband, George II, took over the throne of Great Britain and Caroline became Queen.
It is said that Queen Caroline was ...
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