The King's List

Oliver Cromwell has been dead eighteen months, and Tom Neave, aka Lord Tom Stonehouse is unsure of the future.  He has sent a coded note to his agent in Amsterdam telling him to kill his father, who has been a supporter of King Charles II.  Meantime, Tom and those who had been in power were losing that power.  Was there a danger that the King would return?

Frustrated with his son, Luke, Tom goes in search of his illegitimate son, Samuel.  He finds that he is struggling to make a living making glass.  Sam doesn't know that Tom us his father, and is pleased with being tasked to make him a goblet in the Venetian style.  Tom and Luke are able to come to an understanding, however conflict develops between Tom and Sam.

January 1660 and General Monck is marching south to London.  Is he looking for pay for his soldiers or power for himself?  What can Tom and his colleagues do?  Tom is shocked to find out that  Luke might be spying for the royalists against him.  He is even more convinced when Luke runs away.

With Luke gone, Anne, Tom's wife decides that she wants another child, even if it means that she could die as a result.  In her mind, she has disowned Luke.  Luke is a staunch royalist, and both he and Tom are aware that Tom's name is on the King's List as a person who will be arrested and executed if the king returns.  Monck sides with The City.  What does this mean for the future?

Although author Peter Ransley gets this novel off to a slow start, the pace becomes fast and ends with an interesting twist.  Based on historical fact, this book, which is the conclusion to a trilogy starting with "Plague Child", is a good read for fans of historical fiction.  It was a hard book to put down.