‘A page-turner of a crime thriller . . . This is a world conveyed with convincing, terrible clarity’ – C. J. Sansom Blood & Sugar is the thrilling debut historical crime novel from Laura Shepherd-Robinson. June, 1781. An unidentified body hangs upon a hook at Deptford Dock – horribly tortured and branded with a slaver’s mark. Some days later, Captain Harry Corsham – a war hero embarking upon a promising parliamentary career – is visited by the sister of an old friend. Her brother, passionate abolitionist Tad Archer, had been about to expose a secret that he believed could cause irreparable damage to the British slaving industry. He’d said people were trying to kill him, and now he is missing . . . To discover what happened to Tad, Harry is forced to pick up the threads of his friend’s investigation, delving into the heart of the conspiracy Tad had unearthed. His investigation will threaten his political prospects, his family’s happiness, and force a reckoning with his past, risking the revelation of secrets that have the power to destroy him. And that is only if he can survive the mortal dangers awaiting him in Deptford . . .

Laura Shepherd-Robinson has written a story that is not only a page-turner of a crime thriller but, to an extent unusual in historical novels, where you feel you really are listening to a voice from the eighteenth century. This is a world conveyed with convincing, terrible clarity, Utterly compelling . . . The next star of historical crime fiction has arrived, A book to be savoured. Characters and setting so vividly depicted, and a story both bold and heart-breaking. I can’t recommend it enough, A striking historical thriller that exposes the horrors of Britain’s slave trade . . . Few first novels are as accomplished as this, Every colour, sound and smell of 1780s Deptford flew off the page and the depth of the characters, without exception, was extraordinary

Laura Shepherd-Robinson was born in Bristol in 1976. She has a BSc in Politics from the University of Bristol and an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics. Laura worked in politics for nearly twenty years before re-entering normal life to complete an MA in Creative Writing at City University. She lives in London with her husband, Adrian. Blood & Sugar is her first novel.