My Five Word TL:DR Review:An Enjoyable Second in Series

The Drowned City was the first book I’ve read by KJ Maitland and I enjoyed it and the character Daniel Pursglove. Traitor in the Ice once again takes place in Jacobean England during the great frost of 1607. Daniel is sent on a mission to Battle Abbey where the King’s Pursuivant has died under suspicious circumstances. Battle Abbey is suspected to be the centre of Catholic conspiracies. Viscountess Montague is known for her Catholic persuasion but she seems to have friends in high places and is mostly left alone. However, with this recent death the Abbey is drawing more attention. Daniel is given his latest mission, to infiltrate the Abbey and find out what’s going on.

I enjoyed this. It’s well written, descriptive, clearly well researched and it will definitely keep you guessing

Daniel is a really standout character, although once again, and similar to The Drowned City, I couldn’t always follow his methods. He manages to secure a position at the Abbey and begins to ingratiate himself with various staff. It’s not the easiest thing to do, newcomers are watched and have little freedom. I really want to know more about Daniel and I feel that although this is gradually being revealed I think there is much more to come in the next books in series.

There are a few things going on here. There is unrest in the country in general. James 1 is not popular and this spills over into life in the capital. We witness little snippets of the backstabbing court and all it’s shifting politics. We have the Abbey and the mystery of the dead Pursuivant and then we have this additional storyline about a Nightcreeper which is causing the neighbourhood village to become hysterical.

There is a lot going on here, it’s not particularly a fast read being quite heavy in characters and mystery, but, I enjoyed this. It’s really well written and doesn’t shy away from the dark and brutal feel of the time. Not to mention this is such an intriguing period to read about, so much unrest. I don’t read as much history as I would like but I always enjoy it when I make the time and in this case it seems that there are two more books in the series, already released that I can look forward to.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks and apologies for the delay in reading and reviewing this title.

My rating 3.5 of 5 stars rounded to 4.

Backlist Book No.1