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Antonia Hodgson
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The Devil in the Marshalsea Kindle Edition

by Antonia Hodgson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 2,745 ratings
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“Impeccably researched and astonishingly atmospheric,” this historic thriller set Georgian London “is a truly spellbinding tale” (The Guardian).

London, 1727. A historical crime novel of “scenic intrigue” (Vogue) starring Thomas Hawkins, a rakish scoundrel with a heart of gold. Tom Hawkins refuses to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a country parson. His preference is for wine, women, and cards. But there’s honor there too, and Tom won’t pull family strings to get himself out of debt—not even when faced with London’s notorious debtors’ prison. The Marshalsea Gaol is a world of its own, with simple rules: Those with family or friends who can lend them a little money may survive in relative comfort. Those with none will starve in squalor and disease. And those who try to escape will suffer a gruesome fate at the hands of its ruthless governor and his cronies. The trouble is that Tom has never been good at following rules, even simple ones. And the recent grisly murder of a debtor, Captain Roberts, has brought further terror to the gaol. While the captain’s beautiful widow cries for justice, the finger of suspicion points only one way: to the sly, enigmatic figure of Samuel Fleet. Some call Fleet a devil, a man to avoid at all costs. But Tom Hawkins is sharing his cell. Soon Tom’s choice is clear: get to the truth of the murder—or be the next to die.

“A riveting, fast-paced story . . . Magnificent.” —Jeffery Deaver, New York Times bestselling author of The Watchmaker’s Hand

“[Hodson] conjures up scenes of Dickensian squalor and marries them to a crackerjack plot, in her impressive first novel.” —Publishers Weekly, starred Review 

“The irrepressibly roguish Tom makes a winning hero.” —Booklist
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  1. Book 1 of 4
    Thomas Hawkins
  2. Print length
    401 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Harper Paperbacks
  6. Publication date
    June 10, 2014
  7. File size
    6248 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
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  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

As promised in the historical note that opens Hodgson’s satisfyingly twisty debut thriller, readers will encounter an eye-opening look at Georgian London’s debtors’ prisons and some authentically colorful swearing within its pages. Tom Hawkins experiences both of these when he’s thrown into the Marshalsea Gaol after too many gambling losses and a near-fatal mugging. To his surprise, the Marshalsea seems like a miniature town, complete with a tap room, coffeehouse, and barber. “Indeed it reminded me of my old college, save for the iron spikes,” he observes. But after meeting many disreputable characters and hearing screams coming from the gaol’s “Common Side,” where those too broke to afford their upkeep are left to rot, he almost regrets not obeying his estranged father and becoming a clergyman. Complicating matters further are Samuel Fleet, Tom’s fear-inducing roommate, and conspiracies surrounding a former prisoner whose ghost reportedly roams—and whose murder Tom must solve, or else. The squalid atmosphere is so well detailed that one can almost smell the corruption, and the irrepressibly roguish Tom makes a winning hero. --Sarah Johnson

Review

"[Hodson] conjures up scenes of Dickensian squalor and marries them to a crackerjack plot, in her impressive first novel. . . . Hodgson makes the stench, as well as the despair, almost palpable." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00E78IEKO
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Paperbacks (June 10, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 10, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 6248 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 401 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 2,745 ratings

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Antonia Hodgson

Antonia Hodgson

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
2,745 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Pamela
5.0 out of 5 stars This is historical fiction at its very best and all of it in your face
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2014
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Oh my goodness I laughed! This is historical fiction at its very best and all of it in your face. I fell in love with Moll, the pub owner, just a few pages in when she spit out a line I cannot repeat here. Or anywhere else, come to think of it.

But when it comes to what it was really like to be in debtors prison, Dickens did not paint it this raw. The only other thing that comes to mind to compare it to is the concentration camps. Children whipped and left to die in the mud, Starvation used as a weapon of social control.

And now we have a murder mystery in a place where death is a near certainty for Thomas, our rogue gentleman, unless he solves it. During that quest, he is always surprised to find out who are his true friends and who will betray and use him because he's so convenient. And so are we. But we DO know who truly loves him, don't we? Now if he'd only open his eyes........

Oh, I should also note that a few characters are - or were - actual people back in 1727 and yes they lived and died in Marshalsea. Read the notes in the back
13 people found this helpful
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liz
4.0 out of 5 stars A Page Turner
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2017
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Chosen as a bookclub book. Not usually big on thrillers but I Ilike the fact that it had some historical significance. Well researched. Very descriptive; I could just about smell the stench! About half way through I began to suspect who the real villian was and I was correct but still came as a surprise! If it ever makes to the big screen or t.v. I have already pictured who I would choose for the lead roles.
A very good weekend read.
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cherry
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read.
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2014
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An excellent book, and well written. I would not have chosen this book due to the subject matter, as I would not have said it was my kind of book. It was recommended to me, and I have to say that I soon realised how well written it is.

From the start the reader is led into the life of the main character, and before long I found myself wanting to read on to find out what happened to him.

It was really interesting to learn about the 'set-up' of prison life in this era. Until I read the book I assumed all gaols were set up along the lines of present day prisons, perhaps with more brutality, but I had no idea of the 'two-part' system and the 'privileges' and relatively relaxed set up available for prisoners who could afford to pay for this. To have a system like this but with the brutality that accompanied it was a real eye opener.

Clearly Antonia did a huge amount of research before writing the book, and the fact that her characters are so believable is due to many of them being based on real people. Somehow she has managed to merge fact with fiction in such a way that it makes for a great story.

This was a thought-provoking book, and one that I found hard to put down.
8 people found this helpful
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Veronica 87
3.0 out of 5 stars I can't say that I found much, if anything ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2016
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I can't say that I found much, if anything, about this Georgian era mystery interesting or compelling. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters and the mystery itself was lacking which is a shame because the setting of the Marshalsea, a notorious debtor's prison, could have been so much more.
One person found this helpful
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Larry
4.0 out of 5 stars A solid historical mystery
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2014
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In London, 1727, Tom Hawkins in thrown in the Marshalsea prison because he cannot pay back a debt. He opted not to become a country parson like his father but would rather indulge in gambling and women. He has some sponsors so he is placed in the Master's side- or for those who could afford a small fee to be housed in a more livable quarters as opposed to the Common side where prisoners are pressed together and where they die daily. Captain Roberts was a prisoner on the Master's side who was recently murdered. It would be politically expeditious to discover his killer or killers. Tom Hawkins is assigned the task by his sponsors who promise his release debt free if he solves the crime. As Tom wonders through the prison, the reader becomes acquainted with many unsavory characters, as well as, the layout of this historic prison.
Solid research and a clever plot make this an outstanding and memorable debut. The pacing is slow but given the rich historic details, it is easy to see why. Characters are somewhat stereotypic but there are many based on historic personages. For fans of historic fiction, this book is well recommended and worth your time.
3 people found this helpful
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Sherry Christie
5.0 out of 5 stars "Tom Jones" in Debtors' Hell
Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2014
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Antonia Hodgson has created a small masterpiece in this tale of ne’er-do-well Tom Hawkins, who ends up in 1727 London’s notorious debtors’ prison, the Marshalsea, after robbers steal the gambling winnings he would have used to pay off his creditors. The few coins left in Tom’s pocket entitle him to relatively decent food and rooms on the Master’s Side of the prison. Once they are gone, however, he will be pitched over the wall into the horrors of the prison’s Common Side, where hordes of the penniless live jammed together, diseased and starving, dependent on the charity of people on the outside.

Tom is thrown into the dubious company of the macabre Samuel Fleet, a longtime occupant of the Marshalsea distrusted and feared by nearly everyone. There’s more than one crime a-brewing in this foul place, including the recent grisly murder of a prisoner, his widow’s piteous pleas for justice, the fatal flogging of a young boy by the sadistic governor of the prison, and a ghost that terrorizes the night watchmen. When the governor orders him to solve a second murder or be thrown into the Common Side, Tom must rely on a handful of allies to help him escape this ghastly fate… but not all of them are as innocent as they seem.
2 people found this helpful
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Patricia A. Mullins
4.0 out of 5 stars I like "smart novels" and I enjoy learning about a time ...
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2014
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I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. The historical time and place was well-researched and added to the compelling plot, rather than bogging it down it excessive detail. I like "smart novels" and I enjoy learning about a time or place when I'm reading a novel. Above all, I like page turners. I read A LOT of boring material for my job, so i want pleasure reading to be truly pleasurable. This really fit the bill. The only reason it did not get 5 stars is because i reserve those for truly extraordinary novels. This almost got them.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Fibri
5.0 out of 5 stars A very satisfying, well written historical novel, whodunnit and bildungsroman
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 6, 2019
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I haven't enjoyed a novel so much in a long time.

As a historical novel, this novel really worked for me, engrossing me in the period and place. Being a big fan of 18th and 19th century fiction, I was intrigued to take this voyeuristic trip to the Marshalsea and its surroundings. From the first pages I felt I was right there with Tom and Charles and Fleet and ... well just about all the characters really. Each one as distinct and clear to me as if I were in the room with them. The smells rose up to my nostrils, I shied from the filth, I recoiled from Acton and sighed with relief whenever Charles appeared...

It is also a successful coming-of-age story. Tom comes across very clearly as a callow, weak man who arguably got no worse than he deserved initially. As the story unfolds and he is faced with the harsh realities of the Marshalsea and his task to uncover a murderer, we see the man emerge. He faces one difficulty or horror after another, each one like a fork in the road challenging him to decide who he is and what he stands for. By the end we see him becoming aware (more or less; it's only the first in a series) of who he is and how he wants to live in the world.

As a whodunnit, I found it a rollicking good read that kept me up way too late. Yes, Tom's suspicion falls first here, then there until his (and the reader's) head is spinning, but that both keeps the pace exciting and reflects how far out of his depth he is.

In fact, Tom's very confusion pulls together, into a unified whole, all the varied threads of the historical, whodunnit and bildungsroman elements. Although at the start he sees himself as a 'man of the world' and a rake, he is in fact very naive and unprepared for the roughness of the Marshalsea. He is now reeling from the relentless piling on of one shock after another and his moral compass is spinning. From a historical perspective, it feels very believable that a young man of that era would react like this; just a short while ago he was contemplating becoming a country clergyman but more recently has been enthralled by the temptations of a life of debauchery in London. As a whodunnit, this dizziness keeps the pace up and keeps us guessing to the end. The final reveal(s) <i>(trying to avoid spoilers here)</i> juxtaposes Tom's past and present leaving him questioning his very notions of what he has perceived to be good or bad.

Finally, I'm so glad I didn't read all the negative reviews before buying this (something I usually do as generally I think the negative reviews are more helpful than the positive ones); had I done so I probably wouldn't have read it and I'd have thus deprived myself of a treat.

<i>Footnote in response to some of the negative reviews: It's true that, as some negative reviewers point out, some of the plot lines stretch credibility, but that is what fiction does. Not all fiction strives for hyperrealism. But all fiction asks us to suspend our disbelief (it's fiction, i.e. it didn't actually happen, d'uh) while we are engrossed in the tale. Suspension of disbelief depends not solely on whether X or Y plot line is credible, but on the overall credibility in terms of character, psychology, themes, setting, etc. Furthermore, to say that X or Y plot line 'wasn't needed' is like saying that a particular paint stroke is 'not needed' in a painting. It's there, that's the work as it stands, as created.</i>
15 people found this helpful
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Janet Rizvi
3.0 out of 5 stars The hero is a wimp
Reviewed in India on November 16, 2017
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The corruption & brutality of life in the 18th-century Marshalsea debtors' prison in London are well researched & described. But the hero is a wimp, who lets things happen to him, & whose idea of investigation seems to be to go up to his suspect & ask 'was it you who dunnit?' Not a very fruitful way of proceeding. Only if the hero acquires a bit more agency & mental muscle will this series be worth pursuing.
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Barbara
3.0 out of 5 stars Avid Reader
Reviewed in Italy on March 28, 2017
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Enjoyable read and looking forward to reading the sequel. For all that I've read Dickens the portrayal of conditions wasn't as detailed.
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Nick
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on January 22, 2016
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Very very good indeed. Well worth the cost......superb writing and an excellent plot
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Lorraine Edmondson
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent took a while to get into , then could not put Down
Reviewed in Spain on August 7, 2016
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Really recommended. Excellent took a while to get into , then could not put Down . Will look for more by this author
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