Lloyd Shepherd Livres

From the author of The English Monster comes Savage Magic, a brilliant new historical thriller, a riveting tale of villainy, madness and murder. Covent Garden, 1814: a centre of vice to which rich and poor alike are drawn by the promise of gin, ale and other carnal diversions. In opulent private rooms, several fashionable young men have been found murdered, each wearing a satyr's mask, each behind a locked door. Constable Charles Horton of the River Police Office is called in to investigate and soon finds himself at Thorpe Lee House in Surrey, where accusations of witchcraft have swept through the village. What connects those London aristocrats in pursuit of pleasure and a country backwater suddenly awash with folklore and talk of burning witches? In this strange, captivating world, it is a savage magic indeed that holds its victims in its thrall.

In the east end of Regency London, two families lie butchered. Residents of the notorious Ratcliffe Highway, the victims bear the mark of unprecedented brutality. Panic sweeps the country as its public cries for justice. But these murders stem from an older horror, its source a sea voyage two centuries old. In a ship owned by Queen Elizabeth herself, a young man embarks on England's first venture into a new trade: human souls. As a nation's sins ripen and bloom, to be harvested in a bloody frenzy on the twisted streets of Regency Wapping, an English Monster is born.

Set in a post-terrorist attack Britain, the narrative explores a society transformed by fear and surveillance. With the capital altered irreparably, an omnipresent network known as Witness employs drones and advanced technology to monitor citizens. This chilling backdrop raises questions about privacy, security, and the impact of constant observation on daily life, as the populace grapples with the consequences of living under such stringent control.

London, 1815: Constable Charles Horton of the River Police Office is called to investigate the brutal murder of a clerk and his family in London's East End. Horton's investigation draws him into the secretive world of the East India Company, which will stop at nothing to protect the secrets of its vast empire. What is the Company hiding, and why are its employees disappearing particularly those linked to the small island of St Helena? The trail takes Horton and his wife Abigail from the steps of John Dee's house in Mortlake to the lonely South Atlantic, on the trail of a killer who seems to be the very Devil.