The King's Spy Audiobook By Andrew Swanston cover art

The King's Spy

(Thomas Hill 1)

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The King's Spy

By: Andrew Swanston
Narrated by: David Thorpe
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Buy for $13.22

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Summer, 1643

England is at war with itself. King Charles I has fled London, his negotiations with Parliament in tatters. The country is consumed by bloodshed.

For Thomas Hill, a man of letters quietly running a bookshop in the rural town of Romsey, knowledge of the war is limited to the rumours that reach the local inn.

When a stranger knocks on his door one night and informs him that the king's cryptographer has died, everything changes. Aware of Thomas's background as a mathematician and his expertise in codes and ciphers, the king has summoned him to his court in Oxford.

On arrival, Thomas soon discovers that nothing at court is straightforward. There is evidence of a traitor in their midst. Brutal murder follows brutal murder. And when a vital message encrypted with a notoriously unbreakable code is intercepted, he must decipher it to reveal the king's betrayer and prevent the violent death that failure will surely bring.

 Crime Fiction Historical Mystery England Crime Fiction

Critic reviews

Wonderful - rich, deep, intelligent and thoughtful with clearly drawn characters and exactly the right amount of suspense
All stars
Most relevant
Great fun- - both the mystery of the spy and murders as well as the fun of the cryptography puzzle. Everything made better by amiable heros (excepting the villains, of course); the period detail and superb characterizations by the talented narrator.

Great fun!

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I liked the authors use of accurate history setting to place the character Thomas. The use of codes was real, in fact, separating what was real from fiction from this book would be difficult. The reader/performer did a great job with all of the voices, especially the king. The pace of the book was good and the writing was well done.

Good historical piece

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Entertaining Story, Fabulous Narrator!

Will look for both narrator and author in future. Entertaining, fabulous...

Entertaining Story, Fabulous Narrator!

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I got this book because David Thorpe is the narrator. I was pleased the story was good as well. I love David Thorpe.

Good story

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Could not even finish it. Plot is silly and the author's conventions are contrived and distracting. To explain ciphers to the reader, he had one character explain it to another. Really? Could not generate any interest in the slow and plodding plot.

The narrator would have been fine without the theatrical attempt to create different voices for different characters.

Simplistic and Contrived

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