- Paperback: 442 pages
- Publisher: BEAUTIFUL BOOKS; First Thus edition (2 Mar 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1905636423
- ISBN-13: 978-1905636426
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 88,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
The first in a magnificent new series if historical novels set in 17th century Restoration London. Featuring the loveable rogue Harry Lytle, this first instalment sees him discover a mutilated body in a church - and is then told the corpse was a relative of his. His escapades and scrapes on his journey to the truth to this mystery make for a rollicking and glorious read.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The title of this book says it all really 'The Sweet Smell of Decay,' is a very atmospheric book and it's certainly not for the faint hearted. It's full of the grimness, the putrid smells and sights that you associate with certain medieval novels by Paul Doherty.
This story is set in 1664 just after the restoration of the monarchy and a young womans body turns up mutilated and bound up to the pulpit of St Brides church. Harry Lytle is asked by a trusted advisor to the King to identify the killer, with the assistance of a rather sinister named character called the 'Butcher.'
Harry now enters a rather murky world where nothing is as it seems and where he can trust no one.
From corruption, to the slums of London and it's dungeons, to the aristocracy and the final solution, this book held my attention until the very end.
I really can't get across how atmospheric this book is and I really did enjoy it and I certainly didn't think it was a watered down version of Sansom's 'Shardlake,' in fact I couldn't find anything to compare the two authors style or characters.
There also a few good laughs albeit (gallows humour) still this is a very good first novel.
If your the type of person who doesn't mind taking a chance on an impulse buy, try this it's well worth the read.
This story is set in 1664 just after the restoration of the monarchy and a young womans body turns up mutilated and bound up to the pulpit of St Brides church. Harry Lytle is asked by a trusted advisor to the King to identify the killer, with the assistance of a rather sinister named character called the 'Butcher.'
Harry now enters a rather murky world where nothing is as it seems and where he can trust no one.
From corruption, to the slums of London and it's dungeons, to the aristocracy and the final solution, this book held my attention until the very end.
I really can't get across how atmospheric this book is and I really did enjoy it and I certainly didn't think it was a watered down version of Sansom's 'Shardlake,' in fact I couldn't find anything to compare the two authors style or characters.
There also a few good laughs albeit (gallows humour) still this is a very good first novel.
If your the type of person who doesn't mind taking a chance on an impulse buy, try this it's well worth the read.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I enjoyed this book from start to finish, plenty of action, gore, mystery, cracking characters and a great twist. There seems to be an extensive amount of historical fiction on sale at the moment, and believe me I read and buy a significant amount. This book stands out as a great example within this genre. More soon please!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Sweet Smell of Decay, Paul Lawrence's first installment of the Harry Lytle Chronicles, opens in the year 1664, with Oliver Cromwell dead and Charles Stuart occupying the throne of England where feuds abound, religious temper seethes, and witch-hunting is heinous sport.
Accompanied by the pious butcher, Davy Dowling, Harry Lytle finds himself standing reluctantly in the vestry of St. Brides Church. Is this woman lying before him a cousin - or no? Harry hasn't a clue. Other than the cryptic letter from his father tucked safely in his pocket. Nor does the relationship in question even matter as he stands over Anne Giles' ravaged corpse. What had she done to deserve such a dastardly end to her young life? Her slight body bound to the pulpit, red hair splayed about her shoulders and breasts, eyes gouged from their sockets and a cord tied around her mouth with such force the killer broke her teeth.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth? Clues Harry will seek, and clues he will find, for he and Dowling have been charged with solving this gruesome murder by a trusted advisor to the King himself!
Not that Harry Lytle goes about the countryside seeking to solve crimes of such vileness. He much rather fancies himself in one of London's fine taverns where he partakes to his heart's content of pipes and ale.
But he is Anne Giles relative, is he not?
Now, where shall he and Dowling begin their search? Perhaps with St. Brides' rector who speaks of witchery and missing keys? The old woman, Mary Bedford, selling meats in the village and perceived to practice the black arts? Or maybe young Anne's husband, the very cause of her estrangement from her family?
The trail of "What ifs" steer Harry and Dowling hastily to the dungeon-like cells of Newgate prison where a man named Richard Joyce is already held for Anne's murder, and within days, will be tried, hung, drawn and quartered if found guilty - and he will be found guilty. But Harry's gut says Joyce killed no woman. Alas, Harry's confounded gut screams Joyce's innocence!
From Westminster Hall to The Mermaid Tavern on Cheapside, from a dank cellar in Alsatia and concluding in a shocking courtroom trial with a most surprising outcome, Paul Lawrence invites readers to accompany Harry Lytle on a dangerous tromp through city and countryside where no one and nothing is as it seems. Time and again, while reading Lawrence's novel, I mused at how his historical mystery could be transported to modern times and easily hold its own.
The Sweet Smell of Decay (ISBN 9781905636426, Beautiful Books LTD) is followed by the sequel, A Plague of Sinners (ISBN 9781905636914, Beautiful Books LTD) . I'm pleased to report I've read both, and Paul Lawrence has me thoroughly hooked. If you like well-crafted, witty tales with endearing characters, revolting villains, clever twists and unpredicted turns, this series does not disappoint. I eagerly await the third installment. (Reviewed by Sharon Cupp Pennington, author of
Hoodoo Money & Mangroves and Monsters)
Accompanied by the pious butcher, Davy Dowling, Harry Lytle finds himself standing reluctantly in the vestry of St. Brides Church. Is this woman lying before him a cousin - or no? Harry hasn't a clue. Other than the cryptic letter from his father tucked safely in his pocket. Nor does the relationship in question even matter as he stands over Anne Giles' ravaged corpse. What had she done to deserve such a dastardly end to her young life? Her slight body bound to the pulpit, red hair splayed about her shoulders and breasts, eyes gouged from their sockets and a cord tied around her mouth with such force the killer broke her teeth.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth? Clues Harry will seek, and clues he will find, for he and Dowling have been charged with solving this gruesome murder by a trusted advisor to the King himself!
Not that Harry Lytle goes about the countryside seeking to solve crimes of such vileness. He much rather fancies himself in one of London's fine taverns where he partakes to his heart's content of pipes and ale.
But he is Anne Giles relative, is he not?
Now, where shall he and Dowling begin their search? Perhaps with St. Brides' rector who speaks of witchery and missing keys? The old woman, Mary Bedford, selling meats in the village and perceived to practice the black arts? Or maybe young Anne's husband, the very cause of her estrangement from her family?
The trail of "What ifs" steer Harry and Dowling hastily to the dungeon-like cells of Newgate prison where a man named Richard Joyce is already held for Anne's murder, and within days, will be tried, hung, drawn and quartered if found guilty - and he will be found guilty. But Harry's gut says Joyce killed no woman. Alas, Harry's confounded gut screams Joyce's innocence!
From Westminster Hall to The Mermaid Tavern on Cheapside, from a dank cellar in Alsatia and concluding in a shocking courtroom trial with a most surprising outcome, Paul Lawrence invites readers to accompany Harry Lytle on a dangerous tromp through city and countryside where no one and nothing is as it seems. Time and again, while reading Lawrence's novel, I mused at how his historical mystery could be transported to modern times and easily hold its own.
The Sweet Smell of Decay (ISBN 9781905636426, Beautiful Books LTD) is followed by the sequel, A Plague of Sinners (ISBN 9781905636914, Beautiful Books LTD) . I'm pleased to report I've read both, and Paul Lawrence has me thoroughly hooked. If you like well-crafted, witty tales with endearing characters, revolting villains, clever twists and unpredicted turns, this series does not disappoint. I eagerly await the third installment. (Reviewed by Sharon Cupp Pennington, author of
Hoodoo Money & Mangroves and Monsters)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Show, not tell
If I could give three-and-a-half stars, I would. The Sweet Smell of Decay is the first in a new series of historical detective thrillers, although only two were published before... Read more
Published 1 month ago by History Geek
The 'sweet' smell of Restoration London
If this book came with a `scratch and sniff' option, I'd have to pass. It seems that 90% of the people the main character meets in his travels are either deformed, diseased,... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Keen Reader
Glad I am alive today
Very enjoyable and different. It does make you glad we have moved on (well some of us). Very well written.A good read
Published 10 months ago by isis
Incredibly disappointed
I love historic fiction and was hopeful that I had found a new author to enjoy- what a disapointment. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Sarah
What a cracker
I loved this book, could not put it down. It reminded me so much of the Shardlake series of CJ Sansom equally as exciting and full of historic horror but exceedingly well done and... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mr. Hugh Allen
Disapointing, uninteresting and flawed
There has recently been a great resurgence in the trend for historical crime fiction, and whilst some extremely good series have helped boost this (C.J. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Domino
This must be about the most boring book I have read for years.
Stuck it out to page 90 before giving up and giving it to a charity shop. Still not sure what the point in it was! Woman dead tied to a pulpit. Vicar obsessed by witches. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Theerah
great
noT what i was exspecting great start but the ending was poor but overall great book from this first time author
Published on 27 Feb 2010 by C. J. Mathews
A promising start?
I was very interested by the setting of this novel and was impressed by the historical detail given, but initially I felt there were too many characters introduced who were largely... Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2009 by Kay Sanders
The Sweet Smell Of Decay
This just about scrapes three stars. The mystery is quite convoluted and I was slightly disappointed that it is not so much solved as explained by one of the characters at the... Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2009 by Rich
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