The Frost Fair
By Edward Marston 

     London 1669 is in the grip of a bitterly cold winter and the Thames has frozen over. A frost fair has been set up on the ice and among its many visitors are architect Christopher Redmayne and Susan Cheever, daughter of one of his clients. Also there is his friend, the Puritan constable Jonathan Bale, and his family, one of whose skating sons makes a grim discovery--a body. Identified as an Italian fencing teacher, it seems that the last person he met before being murdered was Christopher's rakish brother Henry, who hated him and wanted him dead. Henry is soon thrown into Newgate, but unfortunately everybody seems to think he is guilty and even Henry himself is unsure whether he did the deed or not, as he was so drunk at the time.

     This is the fourth outing for the mismatched sleuths and it is a lively tale spiced with humor and some knowledge of the times. Although it is as ever rather obvious that Edward Marston is a writer of radio plays (all those lines of dialog), he also manages some evocative descriptions, some red herrings and a good depiction of England at a time when the Civil War was only a few years in the past and there was still a split between Puritans and Royalists. This is shaping up into an entertaining and interesting series, particularly as it is set at a time few historical writers seem to choose.