In the summer of 1664, Dutch delegates arrive in London hoping to prevent the worsening rivalry between their republic and England from becoming war. When one of the visitors is murdered and his body is recovered from the Thames, the diplomatic mission threatens to collapse.
Thomas Chaloner investigates merchants, courtiers and agents on both sides who would profit from conflict. With anti-Dutch feeling rising, he must distinguish political assassination from private revenge before warmongers use the death as justification for a naval struggle neither delegation can stop.
The murder takes place on the eve of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, when trade rivalry, colonial competition and naval prestige are already pushing both governments toward conflict. Chaloner’s task is difficult because almost any commercial grievance can be interpreted as patriotic hostility. Preventing one death from becoming propaganda therefore matters as much as identifying the individual killer.
Neal Stephenson
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