Black Drop cover art

Black Drop

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Black Drop

By: Leonora Nattrass
Narrated by: David Thorpe
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £13.84

Buy Now for £13.84

Summary

July 1794, and the streets of London are filled with rumours of revolution. Laurence Jago - clerk to the Foreign Office - is ever more reliant on the Black Drop to ease his nightmares. A highly sensitive letter has been leaked to the press, and Laurence is a suspect. Then, he discovers the body of a fellow clerk, supposedly a suicide. Blame for the leak is shifted to the dead man, but Laurence is certain both of his friend's innocence and that he was murdered. But at a time when even the slightest hint of treason can lead to the gallows, how can Laurence find the true culprit without incriminating himself?

©2021 Leonora Natrass (P)2022 Isis Publishing Ltd Crime Thrillers Fiction Historical Thriller & Suspense Thriller Crime Mystery Suspense
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c
All stars
Most relevant
I really enjoyed The Bells of Westminster by the author and bought this because of that book. It started off well, Jago is an interesting character and her research is excellent, but then things went a bit pear shaped. There is too much exposition about the politics of the time. Yes, it was a period of great social turmoil and change, but let’s have it via a gripping plot. There was a plot but it seemed secondary to long explanations about what was occurring. I got almost to the end, 1hr 40mins from the finish, and gave up. I tried again after listening to something else. Nope. I can’t do it. Don’t get me wrong, the craft is good, the writing really rather good, the performance is excellent. He struggles to keep your interest, he really tries, but the long passages of exposition would defeat the greatest of narrators.

Too much exposition

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This one took me a while to settle in to but.... When you get hooked there is no getting off this line.

A great listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Enjoyed this book - the story telling is so vivid, such descriptive language about London in the 1700/1800's. Felt very authentic!

Good story, gritty and cold which added to its noir feeling.

Also read Blue Water by the same author - also a great story.

Intense but a good read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
First, a note of real praise for David Thorpe for his performance of this audiobook. He manages the wide variety of character voices very well, and though I have listened to a large number of his other performances I could not detect any characterisations that sounded like those in other performances. Well done. David Thorpe kept my interest in a twisting tale. This novel has the usual flawed hero which must be one of the devices that provides a special optic. I just hope he is less naive in the second novel in the series, already added to my Audible library. I was pleased that the author invested in a most colourful and dynamic character that instantly gives colour whenever they appear. The novel's setting is a change for me and I was pleased by it. I am either entreched in roman times, or the 17th century. If listeners need a touchstone, then those who liked the Matthew Barthlomew series by Susanna Gregory, they will readily access this world. This is a good-to-go choice.

The Journey Started

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A convoluted and cleverly written story centered around actual facts and figures in the politics of London in the 18 century.

Political landscapes and ambitions

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews