Firstly I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline review (Publisher) for the free e-copy of this historical thriller.
The conclusion of this series set in the Jacobean period this time in London is as exciting as it is satisfying and wraps up the plots and plotters skillfully. When you read this series you enter the 17th Century world of political intrigue and the England of that period. The plotters are many and the interwoven plots and suspects are a challange for our protagonist Daniel Pursgrove. and his life depends on the outcome.
There are not that many authors that can bring history alive as well as K J Maitland does in this series I was reminded of C J Sansom and his historical fiction. I highly recommend this book without prejudice. My only problem is I have finished this series and there are no more stories f Daniel to follow

A Plague of Serpents is the fourth and final book in the author’s Daniel Pursglove series comprising The Drowned City, Traitor in the Ice and Rivers of Treason. The author is renowned for constructing complex plots and this book is no exception. In addition there are many characters to get to know, not all of whom may be what they profess to be, and the true identity of others remains shrouded in mystery. For these reasons I think it would be a struggle to fully enjoy the book without having read the previous three. To be honest, I struggled a bit for a time and I have read all three! (If you don’t have the time or inclination to read the series from the beginning but would like to experience the author’s work then I’d suggest trying one of her standalone historical novels such as The Plague Charmer set in the time of the Black Death.)

The thread that runs through all the Daniel Pursglove books is the search for Spero Pettingar, the only conspirator involved in the Gunpowder Plot who is still at large. As I mentioned in my review of the first book in the series, it wasn’t until I read the historical notes at the end of the book that I realised Spero Pettingar was a real historical figure. For much of the book, I was convinced his name was an anagram! Although having said that, perhaps there is some significance to his peculiar name after all…

King James remains conscious of the continued threat to his life, taking elaborate precautions to prevent being poisioned. He’s right to be vigilant because there are at least two groups who would like to see him dead, either to put their own choice of successor on the throne or to have no monarch at all. And if one group does the job for the other, all well and good.

It’s not just in the Royal court that there exists an atmosphere of mistrust. It’s the same in wider society as well, especially if you’re secretly practising the Catholic faith. ‘Friends, neighbours, brothers, servants, even your own children were not to be trusted. Anyone could be bribed or threatened.’

Daniel makes a spirited hero who’s handy with a dagger, able to blend into the shadows and an expert at ‘charming’ locks. Although the master of narrow escapes, even he makes the odd mistake with the result that he finds himself in some dangerous situations. There are lots of people who want to find out exactly what he knows and don’t have any compunction in using force to do so.

Natural phenomena have provided the background to all the books. In The Drowned City it was a devastating wave in the Bristol Channel, in Traitor in the Ice it was the Great Frost of 1607 and in Rivers of Treason it was the impact of the previous two on the livelihoods of the population: farmland ruined by salt from the flood, cattle and sheep drowned or frozen and winter wheat wiped out by frost. This time the Black Death is making a stealthy return and no-one is safe from that.

As always, the author conjures up the sights, sounds and smells of London – the latter being invariably unpleasant. We’re taken to familiar places like taverns and markets, but also introduced to occupations such as palterer, gong farmer and clank napper. If you’ve no idea what the last three are, check out the Glossary in which you’ll find the answers along with definitions of things such as ‘stool ducketts’, ‘muggets’ and ‘furuncles’. Oh, and whether you should take offence if you’re called a ‘snoutband’ or a ‘princock’.

As the book moves towards its close, we finally learn more about the events in Daniel’s past that have haunted his dreams and left him with an overwhelming sense of guilt for so long. There is also a final reckoning involving two key figures in Daniel’s life. However, the author resists the temptation to tie everything up leaving the reader to imagine for themselves what the future holds for some of the characters we’ve got to know.

This is the fourth and final book in the Daniel Pursglove series by KJ Maitland (who has also published under the name Karen Maitland). Although I’ve done my best to avoid spoilers in this review, I wouldn’t recommend starting with this book anyway; the plots are complex and there are lots of characters to keep track of, so this is a series that should really be read in order, beginning with The Drowned City and moving on to Traitor in the Ice and Rivers of Treason.

This fourth novel, A Plague of Serpents, is set in the spring of 1608. It’s been three years since the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a failed attempt on the life of King James I of England and VI of Scotland by Catholic conspirators. One of the escaped conspirators, a man known only as Spero Pettingar, remains unidentified and uncaptured, but Daniel Pursglove is still on his trail. The King’s man, Charles FitzAlan, who released Pursglove from Newgate Prison on the condition that he would hunt down Spero Pettingar in return, is growing impatient; the longer Pettingar remains on the loose, the longer the King’s life remains at risk.

In search of answers, Daniel infiltrates a secret group of Catholics known as the Serpents who are plotting another assassination attempt. However, he has also become aware of a second group, the Wyverns, who are planning to use the Serpents as pawns and then seize control of the throne for themselves. To make things even more dangerous for Daniel, there are people within both factions who know too much about him and are prepared to threaten and blackmail him to get what they want.

Unlike the previous three novels, which took us to Bristol, Sussex and Yorkshire respectively, this one is set in London and while floods, frosts and thaws played a big part in those three books, the natural environment is less significant in this one. Instead of extreme weather conditions, this time the public have an outbreak of plague to deal with. I’ve always found the plague an interesting topic to read about, even more so since our own recent pandemic, but it doesn’t actually form a very big part of the book despite the title and prologue which made me think otherwise! Other than that, Maitland does her usual excellent job of creating an immersive and believable 17th century world. Rather than breaking the flow of the story to explain the meanings of terms and phrases, she saves these for a glossary at the end of the book, so if you want to know what a bene-feaker is, what a palterer does or what a cracknel tastes like, you’ll have your chance to find out.

The characters in the novel are a mixture of real and fictional; some, like Robert Cecil, are well known historical figures, but others are more obscure – I was surprised to find that the brothel-keeper Donna Britannica Hollandia really existed! With this being the last in the series, the storylines for the characters who have been with us for several books are wrapped up in one way or another and I was pleased to see that my theory about one particular character was proved correct.

Although I did enjoy A Plague of Serpents, I felt that it, like the earlier books, was far more complicated than it really needed to be. With several different groups of conspirators and others at court working with or against each other for their own purposes, it was difficult at times to remember who was on which side and who knew what. Otherwise, this was a perfect ending to the series and I will be interested to see whether Maitland continues to write historical mysteries/thrillers like these or goes back to the kind of standalone historical novels she wrote earlier in her career.

A Plague of Serpents is the fourth Daniel Pursglove mystery in KJ Maitland’s excellent Jacobean series. Complex plots and counterplots abound as Daniel treads the dangerous tightrope between warring factions. The secret identity of Spero Pettingar may finally be revealed!

A highly recommended read, I was sad to finish it.

It’s been three since the plot to kill King James l failed, but it seems some of his enemies are still around and are set on putting things right this time and finally committing regicide.
Daniel Pursglove has been tasked by royal decree to find the group, infiltrate it and expose the whole plot or face the hangman’s noose .
With time running out can Daniel find the Serpents and foil the plot and save the king and himself at the same time?
This is a brilliant conclusion to this most excellent series.
It has been expertly written with huge aplomb.
Historical fiction like this is hard to find, it truly is quite outstanding and the main character Daniel Pursglove is a revelation.
One of the best series I’ve read to date.

Sadly this is the last in the series of the Daniel Pursglove novels by K J Maitland. The writing is atmospheric and by the end there are satisfying conclusions to things which have been hanging around in the story. I have to say I hope the author continues to write as their attention to historical detail and the webs of intrigue they create are stunning to read. Would recommend with no hesitation, this is historical thriller writing at its finest.

Three years after the Gunpowder Plot Daniel is once again tasked by Royal command to discover if anyone is plotting to kill King James -failure is not an option his own life is on the line .
He soon discovers there are more threats to the King - he is caught in the middle ............... there are plots within plots , can he navigate the different parties' agendas ?
This yet another brilliantly written book featuring Daniel Pursglove , which appears to be the last in the series . He manages to bring to life the plots and politics of the times , showing just how precarious life can be for the ordinary man drawn into machinations of those more powerful . The return of the 'plague' intrudes on everyday life , no one is immune - dread is all encompassing !

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This is the final book in the Daniel Pursglove series, this time instead of the weather playing a major part in the story it is the plague.
In this book Daniel has once last chance to save his life by unearthing the last of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators, while also having to infiltrate another group that is planning to kill the King.
K J Maitland does a great job of bringing 17th century London to life, but for me there were a few too many characters to keep track off, but overall this was an entertaining read.

A PLAGUE OF SERPENTS finishes off this series with plots within plots, and Daniel caught in the middle with everyone threatening to see him dead if he doesn't comply.

Both the plotters and the king are expecting Daniel to serve them, either to ensure the next plot to kill James succeeds or fails. I liked that the entire way through it was hard to know which side he'd ultimately end up on. He has no reason to like either side and both are threatening to kill him (and might well kill him even if he did comply.) It leaves you guessing just how true what he says is.

There are plots within plots within plots here, different people trying to orchestrate the different sides or trying to out manoeuvre someone else. Not only is Daniel trying to work out the identity of the elusive Spero but he's also dodging people who don't know enough - or know too much. It's a really nice snare to unravel as a reader, and the answers do come by the end (which was nice, though one was less satisfying than I'd have liked, if realistic.)

This book also continues the brutality of the world, with a very chilling scene toward the end with Daniel and Cecil. I liked that it didn't shy away from showing this, even if it is a more mild version of the possibilities.

The book's climax consists of tying up Daniel vs Fairfax and Daniel vs Waldegrave, one of which ends as you'd expect while the other is much more emotionally charged and unexpected. It was a nice way to finish it off, full of the same uncertainty their relationship has always had. The book then ends with the world of spies and the precarious nature of it all, which felt like a nice way to underscore the times.

This is the final book in a quartet set in the Jacobean period, in the years following the failure of the Gunpowder Plot. The story revolves again around Daniel Pursglove, who has one last chance to save his own life by infiltrating the plotters and unearthing the missing conspirator, Spero Pettingar, before another attempt is made on the life of King James. The story is a little complicated and there are a lot of characters to keep track of, but I really enjoyed this.

The historical setting is one of the most convincing I've read. London is brought to life and there is a real sense of the noise, the smell, the crowds of people, and above all the fear that lurks everywhere. Not only is there political unrest but the plague is starting to reappear and everyone lives in dread. The failed attempt on the King's life means that there are spies everywhere and nobody can be trusted. It's increasingly difficult to escape the city and the repercussions for being caught are horrifically violent. The atmosphere builds throughout and the sense of time and place is excellent. I always enjoy when an author manages to build the historical period almost as a character in itself but what made this really special to me was that it was also very natural and believable and never got in the way of the story with excessive descriptions. Instead the characters just felt like they really belonged in the period and that's not always the case with historical fiction.

I also very much enjoyed the details of the real life people who had been used as characters in this book. It's always fascinating to me that what can appear to be the most over the top or extreme stories are often the ones based in fact and make you want to know more.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

This is the final book in the Jacobean series set in the years immediately after the Gunpowder Plot featuring Daniel Pursglove and his search for the missing conspirator Spero Pettingar. I loved the first two books in the series but was a bit disappointed by the last book, Rivers of Treason, so I hoped that this final episode would finish the series off in style.
I did enjoy A Plague of Serpents but it didn’t blow me away as much as I had hoped. The plotting was very complicated and I actually found the ending a bit unsatisfactory.
The weather has played a major role in all the previous books but in this final book, it is the recurrence of the plague that is impacting on people’s lives. The story opens with a plague heavy prologue but it didn’t actually play as large a part in the book as I expected. Unlike all of the other books, this one is definitely centred on London with Daniel being charged with infiltrating a group of conspirators who are plotting to kill James VI. K J Maitland is second to none at historical detail and descriptive writing and she really brings the backstreets and rooms of 17th century London to life.
The story was quite heavy going to begin with. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and it was quite difficult at times to understand what was going on. There was a lot of plotting and intrigue with two separate plots against the king as well as Daniel trying to escape from the repercussions of his past actions. It did improve as it went on and built up to an exciting climax which I definitely didn’t expect.
I would recommend this series to lovers of Historical Fiction involving plotting and political intrigues. However, I think that it might be difficult to enjoy this one without having read the previous books.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers, Headline for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"A Plague of Serpents" is the final book in the Daniel Purseglove series by KJ Maitland. I've gone back and looked at my other reviews, and I think I've largely enjoyed the series. I love the atmosphere these books create although to be honest, I'm not sure I fully understand what is going on. It's quite difficult to follow who is on who's side as some are double/triple agents. I just got caught up in the atmosphere of this series. Think it was wise to stop at 4 books though!

I have enjoyed immensely the previous books in this series, however I did struggle with this one at times, but I am unable to determine why. That aside I did persevere and finished the book and did enjoy it however it did seem overly long this time round. The story continues the exploits of Daniel and friends/foes, and this I did enjoy, however I found some of the newer characters lacking in substance.
All in all a good read.