This second outing of Damian Seeker, the enforcer for Oliver Cromwell's regime, opens a few months after the events of the first. Damian is called to the ruins of the monastery at Black Friars where a body dressed in a motheaten friar's robe has been found bricked up in a wall by someone demolishing the ruins. Despite the superstitions of his fellow Londoners, Seeker soon establishes that he is not dealing with a miraculous preservation but a recent corpse of someone walled up alive, and the body turns out to be that of a secret agent who worked for Seeker's own boss, Thurloe.

Seeker sets out to uncover the truth behind the man's murder - he was on the trail of forces hostile to Cromwell - and soon discovers that he was also investigating the disappearance of a number of teenagers. In the course of solving the twin problems Seeker is brought into conflict again with Anne Winter, the royalist noblewoman who was a main character in book 1, and with some unpleasant adherents of the Fifth Monarchist cult: formerly supporters of Cromwell but now turned against him because he does not march on Jerusalem as they demand - they believe in the imminent Second Coming of Christ and oppose Cromwell's taking of temporal power in England. He also has to deal with the power struggles within the government while Thurloe is ill, since Thurloe's deputy is competent but not strong enough to oppose the social climbing schemer at the Exchange who is trying to muscle into Thurloe's role, and incompetent greedy men have found roles through their family relationship to Cromwell.

In this book we see more of Seeker's character and his personal demons, with insight into his failed marriage and the reasons for his becoming a dedicated soldier and follower of Cromwell. Some other interesting characters are developed such as the real life Samuel Pepys and Andrew Marvell, the poet. The setting is well realised without becoming a textbook - I recently did not finish a novel by another writer set in this period which featured two step by step descriptions of how to load a musket. Here, when Seeker sees men performing musket drill he reflects briefly on how his painstaking and repeated practice of the twenty steps involved when he was training for the army was scorned by his comrades but saved his life when he had to perform the action for real in battle. It's enough to let the reader know it is a complex action difficult to do when under fire, and provides an insight into Seeker's own past - a way of dropping in just enough information, which I loved as such a contrast to that other book.

The solution to the puzzles was also well obscured and I didn't guess the answers. The only reason I've given this four stars is that it was a little long and lost a bit of momentum towards the end. But I will definitely seek out volume 3 in this series. In conclusion, a well deserved 4 star rating. ( )

A solidly readable historical mystery, The Black Friar is set in Cromwellian London where an agent of the Protectorate has been found, walled up alive inside an abandoned monastery in the habit of a monk. Damian "Seeker" is put on the case. S.G. MacLean clearly knows the period well, and even if things get a little convoluted towards the end, the characterisation is strong enough to pull the reader through at a good clip. I'd definitely look out for the next book in the series. ( )

London in the 1660s - and politics and insurrection are everywhere. The Fifth Monarchists are threatening Cromwell's authority in England. They believe that he should be launching an offensive against the Pope and the Catholic Church in Europe. Meanwhile in the Low Countries, Charles Stuart is plotting a return aided by Royalist sympathisers in London. One of Cromwell's spies is found dead, bricked up in an old priory, and one the streets a number of children have disappeared. Damien Seeker is tasked with solving the mystery of the death and the disappearances but, in doing so, he puts at risk the lives of those he can call friends.
The is a second outing for MacLean's Parliamentarian anti-hero and the novels go from strength to strength. Seeker is driven by strong morals but is also ruthless in his pursuit of right. The setting is wonderfully imagined with London populated by interesting characters, in this case Samuel Pepys makes an appearance and there is a return for Lady Anne Winter. All in all, a really enjoyable read. ( )

The Black Friar - S.G. MacLean

'The Black Friar' is the sequel to 'The Seeker' and I hope more will follow in this highly entertaining historical series set during the reign of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector.

Captain Damian Seeker, a bluff Yorkshireman with a mysterious background works for Cromwell's right hand man, spy master John Thurloe. The 'Seeker', trusted for his discretion, is sought out for the most dangerous investigations into the enemies of the Commonwealth. Seeker has proven himself to be loyal to Cromwell, incorruptible and stalwart in the cause of the Republic - a man who will stop at nothing to complete his mission and protect the State he has just fought in a war to bring about. He is a feared and respected lone wolf.

In 'The Black Friar' the body of a government agent, bizarrely dressed in the garb of the Blackfriars, is discovered in the derelict monastery on the Thames. Seeker recognises him and Thurloe tasks the 'Seeker' to find the killer and uncover whether treason is afoot. Seeker comes face to face with some old adversaries and his mission plunges him into the midst of non-conformists and royalists who wish do him harm and hinder his investigation at every turn. These are dangerous times; royalist plots and dissident republican and Puritan factions creating an uneasy submission to Cromwell's reign, (there were several attempts during the years of the interregnum; to crown Charles II, to usurp power or to assassinate the Lord Protector). The Seeker in pursuit of his mission has a nose for the importance of the apparently insignificant hence the disappearance of a simple serving girl draws his attention. The very survival of the Comonwealth depends upon Seeker's delicacy and determination as the population is not to be alarmed or inflamed.

This novel reveals a lot about the story in the first book and character relationships are defined by the previous adventure. So although this novel can be read as a stand alone it would be rewarding to read 'The Seeker' first.

I love the Character Damian 'the Seeker' (surname unknown). He is no ordinary investigator, beneath the bluff Yorkshire soldier exterior is an intelligent man with very real traits and values that as the story unfolds make him both likeable and chillingly cold, the Seeker is dedicated and capable of a brutal single-mindedness for the cause. His is a role in the vein of Matthew Shardlake in C.J.Sansom's Tudor series or even Inspector Pekkala working for Stalin in Sam Eastland's 'Red' novels. The Black Friar should appeal to Sansom fans and maybe lovers of S.J.Parris' Giordano Bruno novels.

Even though this is a hefty 450 page tome I flew through it, hungry to turn the page and keen to find the latest revelation on the path as the plot unfolded. MacLean has an easy style that flows smoothly at a pace. The plot deftly navigates the complex political situation of the time and satisfactorily unwinds in a series of exciting chapters, some almost constitute mini endings in their own right as so much comes to light and yet enough is left for the denouement to keep the tension going to the very end.

Real people and events are respected and actual time lines adhered to, the story interwoven cleverly into actual history. Cromwell, Thurloe, Downing et al all seem plausible as do the character created by the author. The complicated nature of times of flux and the life of the city in this period are captured credibly. Nothing is as black and white as Cavalier v's Roundhead, here we have the Fifth Monarchists, a non-conformist dissident group that took its name from the Bible and several other factions. I learned something reading this book.

For me Seeker is superior to the much lauded L.C.Tyler ''A Cruel Necessity' featuring John Grey which pails by comparison because of a lack of human complexity and shades. S.G.MacLean, (a Scottish historian) is the author of a previous historical series featuring Alexander Seaton set in Scotland (Banff and Aberdeen) some 25/30years earlier than the events of The Black Friar in London. I haven't read these but I will be seeking them out.

I see why The 'Seeker' won the 2015 CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger, I think 'The Black Friar is just as good. Although there are a host of books set in this period of British history the Seeker series would be my favourite. The Black Friar is an intelligent historical mystery but the overall impression is one of enjoyment - I had fun reading this book. ( )

London in the 1660s and politics and insurrection are everywhere. The Fifth Monarchists are threatening Cromwell's authority in England - they believe that he should be launching an offensive against the Pope and the Catholic Church in Europe. Meanwhile in the Low Countries, Charles Stuart is plotting a return aided by Royalist sympathisers in London. One of Cromwell's spies is found dead, bricked up in an old priory, and one the streets a number of children ave disappeared. Damien Seeker is tasked with solving the mystery of the death and the disappearances but in doing so he puts at risk the lives of those he can call friends.

The is a second outing for MacLean's Parliamentarian anti-hero and the novels go from strength to strength. Seeker is driven by strong morals but is also ruthless in his pursuit of right. The setting is wonderfully imagined with London populated by interesting characters, in this case Samuel Pepys makes an appearance and there is a return for Lady Anne Winter. All in all a really enjoyable read. ( )