Wisdom and Rubies

An engaging fictional account of a vital period in English social history, Wisdom and Rubies: A tale of crime and misadventure in nineteenth century London is based on factual police reports from the era. J. F. Slattery cleverly combines fact with fiction to provide an appealing read to both historical fiction fans and crime enthusiasts.

“The story was inspired by police reports in The Times, published in 1830,” the author explains. “It was written as a fictional successor to my non-fiction study Before the Beak – True stories from the London Police Offices in 1830.”

The novel follows eminent criminal barrister Adolphus Winterbourne, who has been worried about his godson Arthur. When he discovers the young man was in Clerkwell prison on remand for suspected burglary, he gets quite a shock…

It is 1829, and burglary is a capital offence. But Arthur's brief stay in a London prison on a mistaken charge is only the first in a strange series of interlinked events into which he and Lord Horatio Carlton, his friend and fellow student, are inextricably drawn – events involving every aspect of London life: its journalists and politicians, its artists and scholars, its idlers and gamblers, its burglars, confidence tricksters and pickpockets.

Once Arthur and Horatio lived a life of jokes and laughter, but as events unfold they find the shadows of tragedy closing in around them. Only a desperate plea to Sir Robert Peel, Home Secretary and founder of the new Metropolitan Police Force, will avert disaster…