The Devil in the Marshalsea

Starred review from April 14, 2014
Hodgson, the editor-in-chief of Little, Brown U.K., conjures up scenes of Dickensian squalor and marries them to a crackerjack plot, in her impressive first novel, set in 1727. Tom Hawkins, the 25-year-old wastrel son of an English minister, has the misfortune to land in London’s hellish debtors’ prison, the Marshalsea Gaol. With his life and sanity at stake, Hawkins seizes a possibility for a reprieve. Shortly before his entry to the Marshalsea, the hanging death of another prisoner, Capt. John Roberts, was ruled a suicide. Roberts’s widow believes otherwise, and with reports of the captain’s ghost haunting the jail, the authorities hope that Hawkins will conduct an independent investigation that they can use to calm the inmates. Hodgson makes the stench, as well as the despair, almost palpable, besides expertly dropping fair clues. Fans of Iain Pears and Charles Palliser will hope for a sequel. Agent: Clare Conville, Conville & Walsh Literary Agency (U.K.).

Antonia Hodgson's historical thriller is a fascinating look at the conditions of the notorious eighteenth-century debtor's prison, the Marshalsea. Narrator John Lee brings the characters to life, differentiating their voices and imbuing them with vivid personalities. Tom Hawkins finds himself imprisoned in the Marshalsea, sleeping in a room whose last occupant either killed himself or was brutally murdered. The story has nearly endless twists and turns, although Hodgson brings everything together for an immensely satisfying ending. Between Hodgson's plotting and Lee's narration, this is an exciting and atmospheric listening experience. J.L.K. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine