The Sweet Smell of Decay

by Paul Lawrence

The judge had issued an indictment for the arrest of William Hill, much to my satisfaction. He wasn’t able to do much about Shrewsbury – that noble Lord would find it easy enough to dissociate himself from Hill and Burton, but Dowling assured me that he was finished. Be in Holland by morning. Yes, I had done very well – well done, Harry!

  ‘Harry?’ Jane entered quietly. Unlike her.

  ‘Yes?’ I tilted back on my chair with my feet on the table and puffed at my pipe.

  ‘There is a man at the door called Simon. He has a big knife. He says that since you didn’t pay him what you owed him he is come for retribution.’

  Boggins!

  I fell off my chair and knocked myself unconscious on the hearth.

  Acknowledgements

  With sincere thanks to Tara Wynne for retrieving Sweet Smell from her slush pile, and to Annabel Blay at Curtis Brown.

  To Susie Dunlop, Sophie Robinson and the rest of the crew at Allison & Busby - thanks for brushing Harry down and helping him back to his feet.

  With gratitude to my parents and brother Mark. And with all the love in the world to Ruth, Charlotte, Callum, Cameron and Ashleigh.

  Finally I must acknowledge John Ray for his wonderfully rich descriptions of the flora of Cambridge that head every chapter of this book.

  We hope you enjoyed this book.

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  About the Author

  Born in a convent hospital in Malpas in 1963, PAUL LAWRENCE lived in Spain, Japan and the UK before finally settling in Australia with his wife and children. Paul is currently busy writing the fourth book in the Harry Lytle series, while living a second life as a management consultant and executive coach specialising in leadership development.

  www.harrylytle.com

  By Paul Lawrence

  The Sweet Smell of Decay

  A Plague of Sinners

  Hearts of Darkness

  The latest in the Harry Lytle series…

  1666. London is recovering from the Great Plague which has now slithered out of the City to breed in other towns. Shyam is one such place, a disease-ridden village shut off from the rest of the world. And it is here where Harry Lytle, who works for Lord Arlington’s intelligence service, is ordered to go, to track down a traitor and bring him back alive.

  Under a killer’s watchful eye, and with the help of his reluctant friend, David Dowling, a hulking butcher of uncommon wit and ability, they set off on their mission. The road to Shyam is long and dangerous, and the story that awaits them will turn their world upside down.

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  Copyright

  Allison & Busby Limited

  12 Fitzroy Mews

  London W1T 6DW

  www.allisonandbusby.com

  First published in Great Britain in 2009.

  This ebook edition published by Allison & Busby in 2014.

  Copyright © 2009 by PAUL LAWRENCE

  The author would like to acknowledge his use, at the beginning of chapters, of brief quotes from Flora of Cambridgeshire, Ray, John, translated and edited by A.H. Ewen & C.T. Prime, Wheldon & Wesley Ltd, Hitchin, 1975. All efforts were made in seeking permission to use these quotes. Any omissions will be rectified in future editions.

  The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN 978–0–7490–1547–3