Theatre at the heart of a gripping murder mystery
I know you don’t expect me to be reviewing a novel on this theatre blog but I think you’ll be interested in this because a substantial part of Jack Jewers‘ gripping whodunit Seething Lane is set in a theatre at the time of the Restoration of the Monarchy. The book is the follow up to The Lost Diary of Samuel Pepys featuring the famous diarist as a proto-detective.
In this mixture of fact and fiction, Sam, who was a fan of theatre (fact), spends time at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane investigating some murders (fiction). For anyone interested in theatre, the preparations for a production of As You Like It provide many fascinating insights into what went on backstage in the latter part of the seventeenth century.
Women had only just been allowed to appear on stage, and Nell Gwyn was wowing the crowds, as well as King Charles II. Sam, Nell and the King aren’t the only real people in this book, and if you know your theatrical history, you won’t be surprised at one of the revelations of Sam’s investigation.
Mr Jewers’ historical knowledge also covers London post-Great Fire and the feverish politics of the time. He wears his research lightly but it helps enormously in his evocation of life in London- the muddy streets, the primitive system of law and order, the transport (did you know you could hire a horse like you might hire a car?) and especially the bitter cold weather of the winter of 1670.
Samuel Pepys and his right-hand man Will Hewer are recruited by the King to look into the grisly murders of someone close to his son and of a mysterious second person. The son is illegitimate but controversially tipped to be his successor. This comes on top of Sam’s spying on a firebrand preacher. Inevitably, the two activities are linked, although I found the connection slightly stretched credibility. No matter, there’s plenty of intrigue and excitement- and more unpleasant deaths- as the detective team peel back the layers of a conspiracy and find themselves in danger.
This book is a pastiche of Samuel Pepys’ diary but Mr Jewers writes in a tight easy-to-read style that, while it suggests the language of the period, is never obscure or anachronistic, and always thrilling. Incidentally, Seething Lane is where Sam lives and works, and where the first murders take place.
If you’re familiar with the real Samuel Pepys, you may be surprised to find this corrupt government official, who enjoyed sexual liaisons with servants and actresses, has metamorphosed into a moral beacon who is devoted to his wife. So, he’s a fictional character based on fact, and all the better for it. Mr Jewers’ Samuel Pepys is determined, despite obstacles and threats, to uncover the truth. In doing so, he becomes a hero we admire and care about, whose adventures keep us turning those pages.
Seething Lane by Jack Jewers is published by Moonflower Book on 3 September 2026.
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