After a thrilling start The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins takes a while before the reader truly cares about Tom, his “trull” Kitty and the other characters in the novel. But, once apprehension for Tom’s life and liberty sets in, the thrill ride begins and doesn’t stop. Hodgson’s characters are engaging and fully formed. The setting and history (London, in the early 1700’s) is well researched and clearly told. The mystery is exciting with many red herrings and plot twists. The picture presented of Queen Caroline is delightful -- and convincingly nefarious.
Readers of both historical fiction and mysteries will be captivated with this book. Although this is a second outing for Tom Hawkins and several other characters from The Devil in the Marshalsea are present, the necessary information from the first is presented logically and without undue repetition.
5 of 5 stars