London, 1810. In Vere Street is a house where men assemble to indulge passions for which the age will hang them. A raid on this notorious tavern sees the city gripped with hatred of Mollies, coupled with suspicion of their political sympathies. A few miles away in St James's Palace, the Duke of Cumberland's valet suffers a violent death, which the authorities are anxious to see only as suicide. Caught between these two historical events, the fictional lawyer Wyre is reluctantly drawn into a network of dark alliances that appear to link the raid on the White Swan Tavern, the death at the Palace and the war against France. Leading to a shocking revelation, the novel explores a labyrinthine city of asylums, brothels and secret spaces, in which poets rub shoulders with pimps, and where the only constant is illicit desire.

'The Cunning House isn't simply a good read it brings together both creative and scholarly intelligence.' Buzz Magazine: A fetid pool that wasn't at all familiar to me... The Cunning House marries an original slant on the Regency thriller with some eye-popping research into royal history; and it radiates a most engaging enthusiasm for its subject. It should sell by the bucket-load. Andrew Taylor, author of Richard and Judy pick The American Boy: A mesmeric thriller and fascinating insight into a world that few of us know. Barry Forshaw, Financial Times.

Richard Marggraf Turley is a British author and literary critic. In 2013, he was appointed Professor for Engagement with the Public Imagination at Aberystwyth University. He works in the university's Department of English and Creative Writing.