The Scent of Death

by Andrew Taylor

Overview

*WINNER of the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award 2013*
‘Andrew Taylor wrote superb historical fiction long before Hilary Mantel was popular’ Daily Telegraph
From the No.1 bestselling author of THE AMERICAN BOY comes a new historical thriller set during the American War of Independence.

August, 1778. British-controlled Manhattan is a melting pot of soldiers, traitors and refugees, surrounded by rebel forces as the American War of Independence rages on.

Into this simmering tension sails Edward Savill, a London clerk tasked with assessing the claims of loyalists who have lost out during the war.

Savill lodges with the ageing Judge Wintour, his ailing wife, and their enigmatic daughter-in-law Arabella. However, as Savill soon learns, what the Wintours have lost in wealth, they have gained in secrets.

The murder of a gentleman in the slums pulls Savill into the city’s underbelly. But when life is so cheap, why does one death matter? Because making a nation is a lucrative business, and some people cannot afford to miss out, whatever the price…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780008146559
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/22/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	512
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Andrew Taylor is the author of a number of novels, including the Dougal and Lydmouth crime series, the psychological thrillers Bleeding Heart Square and The Anatomy of Ghosts, the ground-breaking Roth Trilogy, which was adapted into the acclaimed drama Fallen Angel, and The American Boy, his No. 1 bestselling historical novel which was a 2005
Richard & Judy Book Club choice.

He has won many awards, including the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger, an Edgar Scroll from the Mystery Writers of America, the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award (the only author to win it twice) and the CWA’s prestigious Diamond Dagger, awarded for sustained excellence in crime writing. He also writes for the Spectator.

He lives with his wife Caroline in the Forest of Dean.

Editorial Reviews

‘An absolutely gripping, absorbing historical crime thriller … If you like CJ Sansom, or Hilary Mantel or Philippa Gregory, I think you’d absolutely love Andrew Taylor’s The Scent of Death’ PETER JAMES

‘If you’re wondering “what should I read next?” try it – because it opens up a whole new world for you’ LEE CHILD

‘The key to what makes this book work is that Taylor contrives a brilliant mystery plot, and yet the historical detail is just so compelling … The language is interesting, the historical detail is fascinating and the central mystery is absolutely gripping … The Scent of Death is a perfect read for anyone who likes a mystery that’s as finely crafted as a Swiss watch – Andrew Taylor is at the top of his game’ MARK BILLINGHAM

‘Andrew Taylor has built this beautiful and exquisite stage set, so everything we need to know about Manhattan in the 1770s is right there … What makes a crime novel work – you’ve got to have a cracking good story, you’ve got to want to know what happened. And here, you’ve got all of it’ KATE MOSSE

‘Andrew Taylor is arguably the most consummate writer of historical fiction today. He achieves to perfection the crucial balance between the mystery to be solved and the historical context surrounding it. A mesmeric read’ The Times

‘An absorbing and harrowing epic historical detective novel … Taylor is as good at this period as C. J. Sansom is at Tudor England, and like him pulls off novels that work both as literary fiction and detective stories’ Independent

‘Andrew Taylor has been producing superb historical fiction since long before Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker wins bestowed literary respectability on the genre’ Daily Telegraph

‘Taylor once again shows how skilful a historical novelist he is’ The Sunday Times

From the Publisher

…a fresh and surprisingly provocative perspective on a decisive chapter of American history…Taylor's sensitivity to the wholesale misery of the dispossessed puts a new face on the noblest of wars.

The New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio

★ 08/18/2014
Set in 1778, this excellent series opener from Diamond Dagger Award–winner Taylor (The Anatomy of Ghosts) introduces Edward Savill, an employee of the British government’s American Department. The day Savill’s ship docks in New York harbor, he observes a man’s corpse dragging from a dinghy in the water. Later the same day, Savill gets involved in investigating the stabbing death of Roger Pickett, a gentleman newly arrived in the city. Under the terms of his commission, Savill is supposed to report to his masters in London on the “administration of justice in the city in all its aspects,” which puts him at odds with British military officers, who regard a murder inquiry as a low priority in wartime. Taylor plants clues to the murderer’s identity early on in a fair-play plot whose fiendish cleverness becomes apparent only at the end. His depiction of the plight of American Loyalists adds another facet to this superior whodunit. Agent: Vivien Green, Sheil Land Associates (U.K.). (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

08/01/2014
Junior clerk Edward Savill arrives in New York City in 1778 as an emissary from the British government. On Savill's first day, he attends the scene of a murder with the military commandant responsible for enforcing martial law in the occupied city. Officially assigned to investigate the administration of justice by the rebellious Americans toward those loyal to the crown, Savill becomes fascinated with the murdered man. As the connections between the murder and the respectable but impoverished family he lodges with become too many to ignore, Savill digs deeper into family and state secrets, ultimately exposing not only murder but treason, blackmail, and wartime profiteering. VERDICT Love and loyalty, greed and shame fuel the actors in this detailed historical mystery (winner of the 2013 Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award) from Taylor (The Anatomy of Ghosts). A fast-paced finish makes up for a slow start and a meandering middle. Full of fascinating historical details and sympathetic to the British loyalists, this mix of history, espionage, and murder mystery will appeal to Taylor fans and first timers alike.—Sarah Cohn, Manhattan Coll. Lib., Bronx, NY

Library Journal

2014-08-14
In his latest, Taylor (The Anatomy of Ghosts, 2011, etc.) conjures up crime fiction from an unlikely setting—rough-and-tumble New York City during the American Revolution. It's 1778, and Edward Savill has been dispatched to the rebellious Colonies as representative of the king's government to "deal with Loyalist claims for compensation." He's also been told of "the importance of gathering first-hand intelligence." The book's first half is mostly scene and circumstance, and Taylor gets the setting down perfectly: quill pens and reading by candlelight, muddy streets and the ugly stink of offal, including two corpses that greet Savill—one floating in the river (mere atmosphere) and the other in Canvas Town, "home to the worst elements in New York." Taylor introduces realistic characters, ranging from slippery Townley, a supposedly loyal businessman, to Maj. Marryot, army link between military and civilian police. There's also the Loyalist family hosting Savill, the Wintours: the patriarch judge; his son Jack, rebel prisoner; Jack's wife, the "once seen…never forgotten" Arabella; plus references to a badly scarred slave Savill too late learns isn't as dead as he should be. Savill's soon investigating the Canvas Town death, the victim having ties to the Wintours. With a bit of subversive sexual tension between Savill and Arabella, Taylor's plot meanders along before kicking into overdrive when Savill and Jack, "no scholar, certainly, but manly and affectionate," set out to "the Debatable Ground"—rebel-plagued territory outside the city. Jack's seeking a "box of curiosities" at Mt. George, his wife's family estate. Therein may be the key to the restoration of the Wintour fortune. What follows are stabbings, torture and murder, much alcohol downed, appalling revelations about slavery and class, and a sin that's never explained. "[A]n American...is not an Englishman any more. He is become quite a different animal" and capable of murder most foul.

Kirkus Reviews