The Devil in the Marshalsea

The ne'er-do-well son of a country parson is thrown into the alternative world that is the debtors' prison of London in 1727. Owned by a noble, run by an unlikeable bastard, and inhabited by the unfortunate as well as the conniving, the Marshalsea Gaol is a festering pot of deception, treachery, and brutality. When a man of means is murdered inside the institution, everyone seems to have an interest in finding the killer, as well as a motive for the crime. New arrival Tom Hawkins not only needs to pay off his debts, he must find out who killed the man who slept in his bed two days before. The scenes are Hogarthian and the pace is Pattersonian. Debut author Hodgson, who is also the editor in chief of Little, Brown UK, has a gift for action and colorful characters, using the infamous prison as the main stage and real people as supporting actors. She manages to keep the reader guessing as to who might be the murderer and when (and whom) he might strike next.