The Frost Fair

Rather than exacerbating that winter's gloom, a sudden freezing-over of London's Thames River in 1669 becomes a cause of public delight in Edward Marston's The Frost Fair. "In place of a river, we have the widest street in Europe", exclaims architect Christopher Redmayne, as he observes the myriad merchants and entertainers who've mounted an eccentric celebration on the ice. But this revelry soon cools, after Redmayne and his sober-sided associate, Constable Jonathan Bale, discover a corpse trapped in the glacial crust. The deceased is Jeronimo Maldini, an Italian fencing master who was stabbed with a dagger belonging to none other than Redmayne's foppish, pleasure-seeking elder brother, Henry. Most Londoners, including Bale, are convinced of Henry's guilt, and the accused was too inebriated on the night of the murder to be sure of his own innocence. Christopher, however, is sure, and so sets off to find the real killer. Meanwhile, the designer detective must fend off the amorous advances of a new client and, not insignificantly, prevent Henry's suicide in squalid Newgate Prison.

Like its predecessors in the Redmayne/Bale series, this circuitously plotted work adroitly portrays the alternately respectable and ribald atmosphere of post-Great Fire London. Christopher Redmayne, who labours to restore his city in the shadow of real-life architect Christopher Wren, has matured into a credible sleuth, bedeviled by his sibling but forging a relationship of grudging respect with the puritanical Bale. If the tone of this series isn't quite so jauntily whimsical as that of Marston's better-known Nicholas Bracewell books (The Bawdy Basket, etc:), The Frost Fair nonetheless proves itself a historical mystery with thrills on top of chills. --J Kingston Pierce, Amazon.com

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A Frozen Thames, What a Sight To See - Rated
Edward Marston's books about the architect Christopher Redmayne are well worth reading. The character is now becoming established in his own right. Initially I wanted to compare him with characters in some of Mr. Marston's other excellent offerings, Nicholas Bracewell etc. but now Christopher Redmayne stands out as the architect who not only wants to put his stamp on London after the Great Fire, but is also making quite a name for himself as an amateur sleuth adept at solving some of the many crimes that take place in the great city. To assist him in these matters he has the assistance of his friend, constable Jonathan Bale.

The year is 1669 and winter has come down on the City of London with an iron fist. It is the coldest winter for many years, cold enough to make the great river Thames freeze over. When this event happens the merchants and entertainers make good use of the frozen river by holding a fair on the ice.

However the revelries are soon cut short when Redmayne and the constable discover a corpse trapped in the ice. The dead man is an Italian, a fencing master and he has been stabbed with a weapon belonging to the rakish, pleasure seeking elder brother of Christopher, Henry Redmayne. Everyone, including the constable is convinced that Henry is guilty, but the accused was too drunk to remember what happened. Christopher however is convinced of his brothers innocence and set out to prove it . . .