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Blood & Sugar

Award-Winning Historical Crime from the Author of The Square of Sevens

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Blood & Sugar

By: Laura Shepherd-Robinson
Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe
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About this listen

Blood & Sugar is the thrilling debut historical crime story from Laura Shepherd-Robinson.

June, 1781. An unidentified body hangs upon a hook at Deptford Dock – horribly tortured and branded with a slaver’s mark.

Some days later, Captain Harry Corsham – a war hero embarking upon a promising parliamentary career – is visited by the sister of an old friend. Her brother, passionate abolitionist Tad Archer, had been about to expose a secret that he believed could cause irreparable damage to the British slaving industry. He’d said people were trying to kill him, and now he is missing . . .

To discover what happened to Tad, Harry is forced to pick up the threads of his friend’s investigation, delving into the heart of the conspiracy Tad had unearthed. His investigation will threaten his political prospects, his family’s happiness, and force a reckoning with his past, risking the revelation of secrets that have the power to destroy him.

And that is only if he can survive the mortal dangers awaiting him in Deptford . . .

 Crime Thrillers Historical Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Exciting

Critic Reviews

Laura Shepherd-Robinson has written a story that is not only a page-turner of a thriller but, to an extent unusual in historical novels, where you feel you really are listening to a voice from the eighteenth century. This is a world conveyed with convincing, terrible clarity’ (C. J. Sansom)
A novel of astonishing skill
A tightly plotted crime story with vivid details of Georgian England
Stunning . . . Blood & Sugar is a harrowing and brutal epic [that] shocks and thrills in equal measure
A striking historical thriller . . . Few first novels are as accomplished as this (Andrew Taylor, author of The Ashes of London)
Epic, harrowing, thrilling, brutal, addictive. I read it flat out in one day (C. J. Tudor, author of The Chalk Man)
Magnificent . . . A tense and gripping historical thriller that shines an unwavering light on a dark period in British history. Unmissable. (Antonia Hodgson, author of The Devil in the Marshalsea)
Phenomenal . . . A shoo-in for one of the books of the year (David Young, author of Stasi Child)
Enthralling
Extraordinary (Caz Frear, author of Sweet Little Lies)
A searing, ingeniously constructed story
Truly addictive (Jenny Quintana, author of The Missing Girl)
A passionate indictment of British involvement in the slave trade but it never neglects its duty to chill and thrill
With a hugely likeable hero at its heart, this rich and beautifully written debut marks out Laura Shepherd-Robinson as a major new talent (Fiona Cummins, author of Rattle)
The finest Georgian intrigue
A remarkably assured debut (Elizabeth Fremantle, author of The Queen's Gambit)
A page-turning dive into the torrid depths of London in the 1780s (Mary Paulson-Ellis, author of The Other Mrs Walker)
Gripping and original . . . I absolutely loved it (Karen Hamilton, author of The Perfect Girlfriend)
Immersive and exhilarating . . . I was completely swept away (Holly Seddon, author of Love Will Tear Us Apart)
Extraordinary, immersive, addictive and moving (Olivia Kiernan, author of Too Close to Breath)
I can’t recommend it enough (Jo Jakeman, author of Sticks and Stones)
Utterly compelling . . . The next star of historical crime fiction has arrived (R. N. Morris)
The most absorbing, intelligent and breathtakingly atmospheric novel I’ve read in a long time (Chris Whitaker)
I haven't read such an accomplished historical novel since I was introduced to C.J. Sansom. (Jo Spain)
A gripping mystery . . . I loved it (Laura Marshall, author of Friend Request)
One of the best historical novels I’ve read in ages. (Kaite Welsh, author of The Wages of Sin)
Deptford, a gateway to and from Britain’s expanding empire, is evoked in pungent detail. The British slave trade was an appalling episode in our history and the novel is unflinching in its refusal to sentimentalise motives or to row back on the savagery of the times.
All stars
Most relevant
Great narration of this fantastic historical fiction fiction. Got a little list with all the characters and thur own sub plots but probably as I’m listening and doing other things but otherwise a really good read.

Great historical fiction

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Best book I’ve listened to in a long while. Well paced and written. The narrator is gifted.

Well written superb narration

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