The Bear Pit

a twisting historical thriller from the award-winning author of The Seeker

SG MacLean author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Quercus Publishing

Published:6th Feb '20

Currently unavailable, our supplier has not provided us a restock date

The Bear Pit cover

*** Read Shona MacLean's new novel, The Cromarty Library Circle, out now! ***

London, 1656.


Oliver Cromwell is now a king in all but name. Three conspirators, an alliance of Royalists and disillusioned Parliamentarians, plan to assassinate him.

Seeker, though, is preoccupied by the discovery of the body of a man ravaged by a bear - creatures not seen in the capital since bear baiting was banned. The hunt for the killer leads from Kent's coffee house on Cornhill, to a German clockmaker in Clerkenwell, to the desolate Lambeth Marshes where no one should venture at night.

As the motivation behind the murder becomes clearer, Seeker realises just what - and who - he is up against. The Royalists in exile have sent to London their greatest fighter, a man who will stop at nothing to ensure the Restoration.

Praise for The Seeker series

'A gripping tale of crime and sedition in an unsettled city' Sunday Times

'One of the best historical crime series out there' Crime Review

MacLean skilfully weaves together the disparate threads of her plot to create a gripping tale of crime and sedition in an unsettled city - Sunday Times on The Black Friar

Excellent at conveying the insecurities and unsettling memories that bedevil Cromwell's dying Protectorate, the author brings a fresh perspective and gold-plated research to a period which has been unfairly eclipsed by the popularity of the Tudors - Daily Mail on The Black Friar

MacLean's light touch portrait of a hard man with a softer core is what makes these books so memorable - The Times on The Black Friar

A thrilling plot . . . MacLean's characters are subtle and convincing . . . could challenge C.J. Sansom for dominion of historical crime - Sunday Times on The Seeker

The best historical crime novel of the year - Sunday Express on The Seeker

ISBN: 9781787473614

Dimensions: 196mm x 128mm x 36mm

Weight: 280g

416 pages