What a refreshingly different book from a new author. He describes London of the Elizabethan period brilliantly. You can feel the precariousness of life, one wrong step in the wrong place and you are likely to lose your livelihood, be tortured or executed or both. He evokes the smells and sounds of the time. Nicholas is a wonderful character, not your usual type of hero but tenacious with a firm moral sense. He is beaten down by life and is rescued by a female innkeeper, which brings it's own issues to the story. I like the italicised sections continuing other strands of the tale. I did not guess the murderer or the unusual reason for the murders until the very end. Great twist and brilliant read.