The Royal Secret cover art

The Royal Secret

James Marwood & Cat Lovett, Book 5

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The Royal Secret

By: Andrew Taylor
Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
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About this listen

From the No.1 bestselling author of The Last Protector and The Ashes of London comes the next book in the phenomenally successful series following James Marwood and Cat Lovett during the time of King Charles II.

Over 1 Million Andrew Taylor Novels Sold!A Times Best Paperback of 2022

Two young girls plot a murder by witchcraft. Soon afterwards a government clerk dies painfully in mysterious circumstances. His colleague James Marwood is asked to investigate – but the task brings unexpected dangers.

Meanwhile, architect Cat Hakesby is working for a merchant who lives on Slaughter Street, where the air smells of blood and a captive Barbary lion prowls the stables. Then a prestigious new commission arrives. Cat must design a Poultry House for the woman that the King loves most in all the world.

Unbeknownst to all, at the heart of this lies a royal secret so explosive that it could not only rip apart England but change the entire face of Europe…

©2021 Andrew Taylor (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Historical Mystery Royalty Thriller & Suspense Romance Fiction King England Tudor

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Critic reviews

"A pleasure from start to finish." (The Spectator)
All stars
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Another fascinating plot weaving fact and fiction very subtly together. Narration makes these a joy to listen to, with distinctive voices and moods. This is a rare skill not often found in other narrators.

Great story and narration

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I devoured this in one day - everything about it is excellent.

The narration is superb. It's a series with complex and interesting characters. The period details seem excellent (though Kat is a potentially a little unlikely in the exact form of her very modern feminism, I'm sure many railed against the times). And the writing is excellent.

If you've followed the series before, you'll enjoy many familiar characters returning - and i think overall this book was better than the previous in the series. It's a while since i read that, but this has left a much better after taste. Strongly recommend the whole series if you're new to it

Really enjoyable

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Great story very well told. Fascinating history of a time of great change which is not so frequently explored. Highly recommended but start with book 1 to have the full benefit. Narrator does a great job.

Best of Series

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I really enjoyed this story between James Marwood and Kat Lovett/Hakesby. It was perhaps not as good or didn't enthrall/engage me as much as the previous stories but good none the less. I do like historical fiction & this period in time is very interesting. The narrator was excellent as ever.

Another enjoyable Marwood & Lovett/Hakesby story

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I was disappointed with the previous book in the series, but this was much improved. The story was a decent whodunnit, that immerses you in the period, and progresses the overall series arc nicely.
Pugh's narration is quite superb. His characterisations are excellent and really evoke a convincing historical atmosphere. A cracking performance.

Better story this time, with a stellar narrartion

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I have enjoyed all the books in this series and this book was no exception. Beautifully written and narrated , with characters you really care about. The historical detail is wonderful and fascinating, a true glimpse into the way both the rich and poor lived during the 17 Century. Of course the most important thing is that they are cracking stories !

Love this series !

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Andrews is great at setting the scene in medieval London and creating suspense and mystery.

A great read.

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Another great story, beautifully read. This story had me binge-listening, on the edge from start to finish, laughing and crying, not wanting it to end while dying to know what will happen next. Loved it!

Thrilling

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Leighton Pugh is brilliant. I wouldn’t have enjoyed these so much without him reading them

Excellent narration

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This is the 5th in Andrew Taylor’s excellent historical mystery fiction novels involving investigator James Marwood and the feisty Cat Hakesby which began with the brilliant The Ashes of London in 2016. I loved it.

With The Royal Secret we’re now in the reign of Charles ll at the time of the Secret Treaty of Dover in 1670, the extremely murky proposed treaty between England and France involving the Charles’ conversion to Catholicism and his support for the French King Louis XIV in the war against the Dutch Republic. If listeners know nothing of this historical background, it is explained briefly after the end of the book, but the whole story can be enjoyed without knowing the details – the dangerous intrigues involved in the author’s intertwining plots are sufficient!

And what a great cauldron of interlinked duplicity, passions, suspicions, lies and murder this is! One of Andrew Taylor’s strongest skills is his creation of the contemporary everyday life with its filth, stench, blood, sickness, poisonings, kitchen work; markets, food, travel, money, animals, household drudgery; taverns, sleeping arrangements, the structure of houses and hovels, the ‘necessary house’ as a place of intrigue and refuge … It makes an intensely real background for all that is going on.

And there’s a great deal going on. There’s the witchcraft plotted between dangerous young girls which results in deaths by arsenic; the apparent ‘accidental’ death of a good strong lad; the home of the influential Fanshawe which houses a stinking, sick old lion as well as secrets; the ramshackle house of immigrants who are allowing the mysterious and dangerous Dutchman Van Riebeeck to lodge clandestinely. There’s also romance: Cat (widowed and now running her dead husband’s architect business – I’m not sure how likely that would be!) is attracted to the suave, lying Riebeeck who pursues her with oily declarations of love; Marwood steadfastly loves Cat (and has done since Book 1!) – perhaps Cat will recognise her feelings for Marwood in a future book. The scene moves to France with wonderful descriptions of the hideous sea crossings as Cat takes her architectural designs as requested to Charles ll’s sister who is married to Louis XIV’s brother. There is so much packed in that a second listening would probably yield details missed first time around.

And then there’s the narration by Leighton Pugh who can be relied on for a faultless and brilliant performance of every aspect which greatly enhances the book.




Another winner for Marwood and Cat!

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