In the Forests of the Night

In 1792, Ned Creel, a bondservant in a wealthy household, is forced to flee after an ill-advised dalliance with the daughter of the house. Arriving in London, he survives as a pickpocket and petty criminal, but is quickly caught up in the anti-monarchist republican movement inspired by the American and French Revolutions. Driven by his own desire for revenge against the landed gentry, Creel is used and manipulated by the revolutionaries, and drawn ever further into a web of blackmail, deception, espionage, and murder, reaching into the very heart of the Royal Navy as it wages war with France. He attempts to extricate himself, but instead is dragged more deeply into the mire by his own hatred and greed. Infiltrated by double-agents, the republican conspirators are relentlessly pursued by the British Government and the First Lord of the Admiralty, and Creel finally realizes he must leave England if he hopes to escape the hangman.

Editorial Review, By JD Shipton

Mossop delivers. The characters, the settings, the vernacular, the intrigue, all expertly worked together in this thoroughly enjoyable period piece. I've read the big names of Imperial British period fiction, and I'm here to tell you that Mossop should be counted among them.