A couple of years ago I reviewed Andrew Taylor's novel The Ashes of London for Shiny. I'd been impressed with his evocation of 1660s London in the grip of the Great Fire, so I was pleased to find this new book, which is basically a continuation of the first one. It's set in the aftermath of the Fire, when London is trying to rebuild itself and to house the many people who have been rendered homeless. This is frequently a complex task, as many properties have multiple owners, freeholders and leaseholders. For this reason the government has set up the Fire Court, a body dedicated to hearing the cases and disputes that arise.
The two central characters of the first book, James Marwood and Cat Lovett, reappear here. James has been working for a government office and caring for his aged father who is suffering from dementia. At the start of the novel old Marwood comes back from one of his wanderings around the city, and rambles on about a whore he has seen lying dead in a room at Clifford's Inn. James dismisses this as part of his father's imaginary life, but when the body of a murdered woman is found on the scene and then the old man is killed in an apparent street accident, he realises there was truth in what he had described. Cat, meanwhile, is living a concealed life. Unable to return to the wealthy home where she was brought up, she is living under an assumed name with her employer, an ageing and frail architect, who allows her to work on drawing up his plans.
Another strand of the novel concerns Sir Philip Linley and his wife Jemima. Sir Philip owns the freehold of Dragon Court, a large property which has been destroyed in the fire, and wants to build new houses there, but he's in opposition to the leaseholder, who's employing Cat's employer to design an alternative development. Their case is due to come up before the Fire Court soon. Sir Philip is not a nice man - he's mean to Jemima, who he married for her money, and consorts with the very unpleasant Gromwell, a seedy and cadging lawyer. It soon turns out that the murdered woman was one of the leaseholders of Dragon Court, and James and Cat are convinced that Linley and Gromwell were in some way responsible. Many dramatic events ensue, including two more fires, in one of which James sustains bad injuries and almost loses his life, while Cat is almost destroyed by the second one.
Although I did enjoy this, my enthusiasm is not as great as it was when I read the first one. Not sure why this is - the historical research is equally impressive, the characters attractive and lively, the plot satisfyingly complex. Maybe I just wasn't quite in the mood. I've certainly been left looking forward to what I hope will be a third volume - it would be interesting to see what the future holds for Cat and James. Cat is an admirable character, strong and determined, defensive and often spiky, mistrustful of men (she carries a knife for self-defence), and highly intelligent. I should be sorry to have seen the last of her. As for James, we can only hope he makes a full recovery from the damage done by the fire and continues to fight corruption.
