While Eddie Hill is installing a new heating system in a sixteenth century building he has a strange encounter with the building’s owner who appears to be looking for something.

Later, a chance encounter, allows Eddie to chase off a man who is attacking the mysterious owner in the street.

When Eddie gets the news that the owner has later died in a car park and he has been identified as the last person to see him alive he goes on the run armed only with some coded clues that he found in a book that he bought from the local pub landlord. Can he track down what the dead man was trying to find or will he die trying.

With both the police and the real murderer seeking to eliminate him from their enquiries or just eliminate him entirely, Eddie’s search takes him to various historic buildings and monuments as he starts to unravel the mystery, aided and abetted by his wife and his work mates.

I really enjoyed this ‘Da Vinci Code’ style mystery thriller which takes the reader on a roller coaster ride with Eddie and his cohorts as they delve into British history on a treasure hunt around the country.

The characters were well defined and easily discernible. The plot blends real history of people and places into the story so would appeal to anyone with an historical bent.

Despite being English and living about 30 miles from central London, even I learned a few things about our history that I would otherwise not have known about. Who knew that the Monument was originally built as an observatory as well as a tribute to the great fire of London that started in nearby Pudding Lane.

The story races along with pauses for research before setting off at a frantic pace once the next clue is solved.

The whole is well written, and flows nicely, which kept my interest at a high level throughout.

A cast of colourful characters keeps it fresh and the back stories for one or two of the antagonists gives an interesting insight into their motivations.

To sum up, this is a well written, nicely plotted mystery thriller that has no problem keeping the pages turning late into the evening. The research into the historic elements is first class

I would be more than happy to follow Eddie’s further adventures as a heating engineer turned crime solving investigator. ( )