Review: An Honourable Thief

Douglas Skelton, An Honourable Thief (Canelo Adventure 2022)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60840450-an-honourable-thief?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_19

Queen Anne is dead, and now England must prepare for a German king. Colonel Nathaniel Charters and Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury, discuss the possible existence of a document, Queen Anne’s will naming her half-brother James Edward, a Catholic, as heir.
Charters has a mission for Jonas Flynt, who has been won to his Company of Rogues by blackmail.
Flynt is sent after the document, but he is bested in a showdown with Madame de Fontaine. She mentions that she is employed by ‘the Fellowship’—a secret Jacobite society.
Flynt rides to Edinburgh, the land of his childhood memories, memories of Cassie. He meets his West Indian stepmother Mother Mercy and his father Gideon, and Cassie has married his friend Rab. Lord Moncrieff, who may have purchased the document, comes, seeking his ‘lost property’, his slave Nero. In fact, Rab and Gideon have arranged the man’s escape.
A public hanging turns to riot, and a child is killed, leading to more unfortunate carnage. Their guardsman friend Charlie is held responsible for not controlling the situation.
Flynt and his allies pursue Lord Moncrieff and Madame de Fontaine across Scotland as battle lines form between the Jacobites under the Earl of Mar (‘Bobbing John’ Erskine) and the king’s forces under the Duke of Argyll.
Flynt and Moncrieff have a history that goes back before Madame de Fontaine. Secrets from the past further complicate dynamics between the characters. The final showdown takes place on a ridge above as the Battle of Sheriffmuir rages below.
This exciting historical adventure is beautifully written, the scenes well portrayed, vivid and period-appropriate. The dialogue captures very well (it seems to me) the vernacular of the 18th century Edinburgh streets and the feel of the language of the time. The plot is complex and interesting, and backstory is handled artfully.