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Winner of the CWA Historical Dagger Award

A Publishers Weekly Top Ten Crime/Mystery Novel of 2016

“Historical fiction just doesn’t get any better than this.” — Jeffery Deaver

“A rip-roaring ride . . . Wonderfully atmospheric and entertaining.” — Good Housekeeping

“Impeccably researched and astonishingly atmospheric . . . Truly spellbinding.” — Guardian

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 is innocent, after all.
It’s hard to say when Tom’s troubles began. He was happily living in sin with his beloved—though their neighbors weren’t happy about that. He probably shouldn’t have told London’s great criminal mastermind that he was in need of adventure. Nor should he have joined the king’s mistress in her fight against her 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 there’s nothing more silent than a hanged man. Now Tom’s scrambling to save his life and protect those he loves. But as the noose tightens, his time is running out.

“Hodgson maintains pitch-perfect suspense, craftily constructs a fairly clued whodunit, and convincingly evokes the period . . . [This book] solidifies her position as a major talent in the genre.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review